


Pacific Colours

by HollyWasRed



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Fantasy, Angst, Blood and Injury, Breeding, Captivity, Cervix Penetration, Eggpreg, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Falling In Love, First Time, Fluff, Forced Captivity, Friends to Lovers, Implied/Referenced Torture, Individual Chapter Warnings & Notes, Intersex Gender, It's come early because I couldn't wait, Loss of Virginity, M/M, Mating Bond, Mating Season, Mer Babies, MerMay, MerMay 2021, Mermaids, Mermen, Oral Sex, Oviposition, Plot with Porn/Porn with Plot, Scientific Studying, Slow Burn, Violence, Weird Biology, live birth, merfolk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-13 20:14:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 62,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29159463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HollyWasRed/pseuds/HollyWasRed
Summary: Elio knows he's different, knows that he isn't like the rest of his kind. Being born and raised in captivity was a world first, the humans who helped raise him dedicated to studying and understanding what merfolk are as a species. But when a wild one is caught, another world first occurs. He's different; fierce and untamed like the ocean he came from.The question now is; why? With so many unanswered questions piling up, Elio and his human carer Cecile, try and unravel just what is going on.But it was never going to be easy.Note: For those in search of smut only, see chapter 8.
Relationships: Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Comments: 60
Kudos: 126





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Blue Lagoon](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27065584) by [blackeyedblonde](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackeyedblonde/pseuds/blackeyedblonde). 



> Hello, readers. So this one is a little different to my other stories in the way of being set in the "real world", which just means I used real places and names of things along with my usual fantasy elements thrown in of course. This was also extremely difficult to tag without giving it all away so as a result, there will be **individual chapter warnings** as well as notes at the start and end of each chapter for anything that I mention that has you going; NANI?! Maybe you'll learn something here with HWR, who knows! :D
> 
> As it's mentioned, this was inspired by another fic (looking at you Kaye <3), without your fic I wouldn't have known where to start. I took the captivity element of your story and ran (swam?) with it. I hope you don't mind, and thank you :) 
> 
> Warnings: None.

It was almost dawn by the time the hunt had finally ceased. They had been watching the mer’s journey past the Hawaiian Islands for years, at first simply observing how he seemed to be the leader of the six he travelled with. Bigger, stronger, faster. All physical signs that he was in charge yet he interacted with the other mer as though he were equal to them, despite them clearly showing he was their leader, their guide. The pod was small, only seven individuals, yet it always made the same journey west through the archipelago into the Pacific beyond. Nobody knew where they had come from or where they went after, but it was believed they either went west to breed or visit a warmer place when winter came.

The Averton Facility of Marine Research was situated on the southwestern coast of the Hawaiian island of Moloka’i. The climate was relatively harsh and unforgiving, but there was little public travel to the island which left the marine biologists residing there in peace. The huge estate had been half built from a small cliff edge to reach out into the ocean itself, housed nearly fifteen hundred staff and was, for all intents and purposes, a simple conservation centre. The biodiversity of the Pacific surrounding the Hawaiian archipelago was of great interest to those studying the marine life there, and when merfolk activity was first discovered in early 1920’s, it didn’t take long for an entire scientific centre of study to be created. It was one thing on the outside, but another within.

The Averton family who founded it were still in charge, or at least, the current eldest son was, Jamie Averton. His father and grandfathers before him were stepping stones to the future he imagined in the study of mer, adding monumental discoveries of their kind to the history books. As a whole they were no simple fish; they had a culture of their own, a language, a hierarchy system and sometimes intricate mating bonds forged over years of monogamous courtship. People knew they were breeding somewhere, but did not truly know where until Jamie’s extensive searching brought it into the light.

Jamie did not consider himself a cruel man by nature, more a man who simply got things done in the name of science. He had been releasing the sonar signal into the waters facing further southwest to try and lure the particular travelling pod of merfolk for seven consecutive years, trying different pitches, different angles, all in the hope it would bring them closer so he could truly take a good look at the prize he simply had to claim.

The leader, the alpha type, the _boss,_ now thrashing like the fish out of water he was in the industrial nets made to capture sharks, was all wild strength and coppery bronze scales. His fins, from the dorsal that began at the nape of his neck and ending halfway down his tail, the powerful caudal that he swung at those getting too close, were a glittering gold like the treasures found in the Valley of the Kings. He was beyond pissed off at being fooled, sizzling rage quickly exploding, tearing skin from bone as one assistant got too close and had a chunk taken out of their arm. The crimson liquid gushed forth from the bicep, accompanied by pained screams that Jamie was sure he would be hearing in his quieter moments for the next several days. An animalistic hiss, like that of a snake, erupted from the depths of merman’s chest. Sharper teeth than he expected to see, but it would take more than that to truly surprise Jamie these days.

The nets were hauled up, the mechanical whirring sound of the winch quickly retracting piercing the air and pulling the captured mer out of the water to cease his incessant splashing. Blood dripped from his mouth over olive skin, eyes a similar colour to the gold of his fins shining in the early morning light with a hatred so volatile, Jamie was sure if looks could kill, he would most certainly be dead. But they did not and he was not. Instead, Jamie signalled the man controlling the haulage to stop momentarily, which he did without protest. The merman, twisting around on himself to try and fully face Jamie, was suspended in the air just above the containment tank that he would be used to move him to his more permanent enclosure.

When he got close enough, Jamie saw every detail. He could smell the salt of the sea that seemed to drip in endless rivulets into the tank of water below him. It shone on a tanned complexion, the merman’s face lined with the hardships of a life on a watery road, eyes crinkling at the edges as he squinted against the glare of the rising sun. Hazarding a guess, he had to be in his mid to late forties, older than he seemed to be from afar but it would have to do. His hair, the colour of sand, was beginning to thin a little at the sides by pointed ears, just marking the change of turning to white. Yet despite these signs, Jamie felt sure that catching this merman was worth it. It was thought that merfolk lived similar lengths of life to humans, so he was perfectly viable.

Golden eyes blinked at him, a third eyelid sweeping back and forth to clear them of water now that he was out of it. The gills on the sides of his neck pulsed harshly from exertion as he drew breath. Jamie dared a step closer despite the voices of concern. The net was too narrow to fit his arms through, but there was no telling what else he might be capable of.

“I know you can understand me, creature.” The mer tilted his head, eyes of gold never leaving those of brown. “If you co-operate, no harm will come to you. If you don’t and you cause a fuss, your time here will be nothing but torment for you. It’s up to you to decide which route you prefer to take.” The mer did not respond, blinking slowly with his head at a slight angle, eyes narrowed.

Jamie backed away, nodding to the operator to lower the net down into the tank, its metal doors already sliding closed so when the net was released, they would snap shut. He meant to turn away, to head back into the office and make some calls, but the sun caught the glimmering bronze scales of the merman’s tail and Jamie did a double-take at the beauty of it. Merfolk truly were astounding creatures.

What Jamie did not expect to see, was the look on the merman’s face just before the doors closed and he was shut into darkness.

A grin, showing no teeth and only pulling up one side of his mouth, eyes almost glowing but surely that was just the sunlight? He looked…evil. Like he knew something that Jamie did not.

One thing was for certain; this merman would be trouble.

*******

Elio could feel the heaviness of the air above the surface the very moment he opened his eyes that morning. The sun was shining despite thirty feet down in his sea cave where the light blanched a little at the bottom, but it wasn’t as bright a day as it usually was for Hawaii.

A storm was coming.

Elio pushed himself upright, stomach already growling at him for breakfast. Untangling the stray bits of kelp that always ended up catching in his tail as he slept, Elio stretched and made his way of out of the cave to the surface. Sure enough, Cecile was there to greet him.

 _“Bonjour, mon cœur!”_ She called to him. “Did you sleep well?”

“Oh yeah, would have stayed sleeping if my stomach hadn’t woken me up.” Elio drifted to the shallows where Cecile stood, a plastic tub in her hands. She smiled at him, pulling off the lid and kneeling down in the sand. Elio pulled himself up and out of the water, practically beaching himself in the sand as he sat next to Cecile.

“Good, because I brought your favourite,” she revealed the contents to him and Elio felt himself salivate.

“You brought squid!”

“I did,” Cecile ruffled his chocolate brown hair, shaking the water from it loose. _“Bon appétit.”_

“Thanks! Oh wait… _merci._ Did I say it right?” 

“You did, you’re getting really good with your pronunciation. I’ll have to step up my game with some new words for you.” Elio doubted he could really keep up with how Cecile spoke her native French; he had heard her speak with some other colleagues at the facility that spoke back the same and despite picking the language up quicker than average, she spoke so fast he could barely understand a single word.

It was early in the day, the staff on duty only just starting to arrive. Soon, the Averton facility would be buzzing with life and people going about their day. Elio knew no different, as he feasted on fresh squid and glanced around the enclosure he had spent his entire life in. It was for all intents and purposes, as he had come to learn, a tank. However, it had everything he needed. The sea cave was at the deepest point of the enclosure, then there was the sandy bay he was sitting on now with Cecile. Further down the shore the sand turned into fine shale, perfect for scratching and exfoliating his scales. Palm trees and exotic ferns lined one side of the tank, the ledge they grew from just wide enough to walk on as to be maintained by the required staff. As certain points of the day, they provided shade for Elio to rest in as right underneath them, a rocky crevice jutted out from the water. He had spent many an hour in the shade reading a book Cecile had brought him. The bottom of the tank was a mix of exposed ceramic floor and sand that drifted down from the beach with the artificial currents that swept through the salt water. Once a month, Elio had to stay out of the way of the divers who came and tidied the tank bottom up, taking away all the sand while the dry version was added to the shore.

It was a process, part of his life, like everything else here, yet Elio knew no different.

“I think a storm is coming soon,” Elio gestured at the sky with one finger. “The air feels…different. Heavy.” He didn’t know how to describe the feeling he got when the weather changed, but Cecile had always confirmed when he was correct. The only downside was that a storm meant she wouldn’t be able to sit on his beach and relax lest she get drenched in the strangely cold water that fell from the sky.

Elio regarded Cecile as she slowly ate what she called a “flapjack” that she retrieved and unwrapped from her back pocket. Her greying hair was falling out of its usually neat bun. Her soft blue eyes staring off into the distance, looking at everything and nothing while she idly chewed the flavoured oats. Today, she looked distracted and tired, if the bags under her eyes were anything to go by. It didn’t suit her, it looked so out of place.

“Cecile? Is something wrong?”

She snapped to attention at the question. “Oh no, I’m fine. I’ve just been working late into the night a lot recently, so I guess I’m tired.”

“Working on anything good?” Cecile often shared with Elio her recent studies and interests, but instead of coming right out and explaining like she normally did, she faltered.

“Nothing too exciting,” she replied eventually. “Some stuff on a new species of anemone.” That didn’t sound entirely true, but Elio felt it rude to question Cecile further. If something was wrong, she would eventually speak about it when she was ready.

After Elio had finished the squid, the conversation flowed easily between him and the woman he saw as a surrogate mother. Cecile had always been there for him, one of the few faces on a human that truly stood out in the crowd. His life had been one of scrupulous study from as far back as he could remember, yet Cecile always comforted him when it became too much. She had taught him to speak, read and write in English, one of the most widely spoken of the human languages. He remembers swimming to her when he was very small, knelt down like she was in the sand of the enclosure, and she would sit him in her lap as she read aloud a book about dragons and heroic knights. Elio had learnt nearly everything he knew now from the woman who sat next to him, but she certainly had her moments of mystery. Perhaps all humans were like that, sharing much but always keeping something to themselves. 

When Cecile left to start her working day a couple of hours later, the sun had fully risen on its morning voyage across the sky. Fluffy clouds chased it, signalling the onset of rain for later on.

Something didn’t feel right, and it wasn’t just related to the weather. When Elio sniffed at the air, felt its heaviness on his tongue, he shivered. He could smell something in the air, something different from the scents he usually picked up. Despite not being able to see it, he had always been able to smell the salt of the ocean beyond the facility’s walls. Cecile once explained just how close it really was, a sad smile on her face as she had done so, yet Elio didn’t know why. But now, there was something almost sweet in the air. It caused that shiver down his spine and the quickening of his heart, yet he couldn’t place its origin. Foreign beyond understanding, Elio did his best to ignore it, to not think about it for the rest of the day until it when evening came and a dinner of swordfish was prepared for him. When the night finally set in, the scent had disappeared altogether as if it had never been at all.

It wasn’t natural and the wrongness of it steeled his resolve to ask Cecile about it in the morning. Settled in the warmth and cosy embrace of his sea cave, Elio played over the questions he would ask in his mind until blurry dreams of an expanse of water so great he couldn’t see the bottom came to take him.

*******

Cecile’s heart was hammering in her chest as she walked the long hallway to Jamie Averton’s office. Windows lined either side of it, giving a splendid view of the island the facility clung to at the southwestern edge of. The island itself was thinly inhabited, a little under seven and a half thousand people calling it home. From this high vantage point, the nearest town of Kaunakakai could be seen to the east.

Tapping lightly on the door, a solemn voice from the other side granted permission, and Cecile stepped inside.

“Ah, there you are,” Jamie, practically living in the white lab coat and scrubs for the last couple of weeks, beckoned Cecile over. “Have a seat.” He pointed at the chair opposite his desk.

In the back of her mind, Cecile knew she wasn’t in any trouble, but being summoned by the boss always gave her a nagging feeling down her spine. She was old enough to be Jamie’s mother, had even worked with the late Frank Averton, and she saw many of his son’s qualities in Jamie. But he was cold, too cold for a warm place like Hawaii, too emotionless when it came to the delicate nature of their study.

“How I can I help?” She asked, forcing a smile to her lips.

Jamie didn’t say anything immediately, stood with his hands clasped behind his back and stared out of the bay window like he could see something Cecile could not. From that direction, all there was, was the endless blue of the South Pacific.

“The capture was a success,” he began, “the new mer is in the holding tank on the mezzanine floor. I would like you to take a look as soon as possible.”

Cecile briefly closed her eyes. This went against everything that they stood for, taking a mer from the ocean, yet Jamie didn’t see it that way. It was all in the name of science and to study merfolk properly, he declared they needed a new specimen; he was no longer satisfied with Elio himself.

“Congratulations,” the word was forced out, yet Cecile put every effort into making it sound genuine. “Did it all go according to plan?”

Jamie turned at the question, brows drawn a little. “One assistant got too close, had a chunk taken out of his bicep. Nothing that some stitches won’t fix.” Cecile nodded, unsure of what to make of Jamie’s blasé attitude to one of his staff getting injured on the job.

“Is there anything specific you would like me to do?” She queried. “With the mer himself, I mean?”

“No. For now, just give him a look over. Due to his volatile nature, we have had to secure his jaw so he cannot open it completely. It has to be that way, unless you want to lose some fingers.” Cecile couldn’t help the frown that she felt cross her face. She was sure if Jamie’s father knew what his son had done, he would turn in his grave at the audacity of it. Capturing merfolk was _illegal,_ but Jamie was in charge now and he made the rules. And flouted them. “Don’t worry,” he continued when Cecile said nothing. “We do feed him, or at least, we try to. We have to sedate him to remove the contraption, but since he arrived here, he has yet to eat anything.” Jamie finally sat at his desk opposite Cecile, running a hand through loose hair.

“I’ll take a look right now.” She could feel the conversation coming to its end, and she certainly didn’t have any questions for Jamie that he would answer freely. Everyone knew _how_ he had captured this merman, but nobody truly yet the reason _why._

Cecile stood, got as far as opening the door and was about to close it behind her when Jamie called out.

“Cecile?”

“Yes?”

“Not a word of this to Elio. He must not know yet. Do you understand?” 

“Yes, sir.”

Jamie nodded and with that order out in the open, Cecile shut the door and walked as briskly yet as calmly as she could manage back across the glass hallway to the central hub of the Averton Facility. There were other marine biologists milling about and flipping through papers as they walked, janitors cleaning the already shining black tiled floor and the receptionists at the front desk taking calls and welcoming those in the waiting area. A lot of the smiling faces and cheery banter was genuine, but so much of it was not. Just how many people here knew what was really going on? Certainly not the bunch of school children flown in from Honolulu on a field trip to the one of the best marine research centres in the United States. Its tropical, out of the way location simply made it all the more desirable to visit.

The elevator was emptied as everyone with her in it got off at different floors until Cecile was all alone. The mezzanine floor needed her pass to be scanned over the sensor below the collection of buttons to other designated floors. It was completely underground, just a desolate hallway with a handful of rooms containing computer equipment, files and other classified pieces of information. It was the room at the end of the hallway that was the largest, where the holding tank was located. Its broad metal doors looking incredibly uninviting as Cecile scanned her pass again, hearing the mechanical whirring of its many bolts unlocking and sliding out of the way before the doors slowly swung open.

The oval shaped room was almost completely in darkness, it was only when Cecile stepped foot inside that the automated lights flared to life. What was Jamie thinking, keeping the merman down in here in the dark? Her heels clacked softly on the concrete floor, seemingly echoing off the walls and making them appear louder than they really were. Apart from that, the only other sound to be heard was a steady beeps and ticks from the machinery located next to the holding tank.

The water seemed to be murky, a dark green in colour with four fluorescent lamps angled just so, pointing into the centre of the water. Cecile remembered the tank being created, a solid square hardly bigger than the bathroom in her apartment. It was tall, nine feet if she recalled correctly and lined with steel to help contain the water pressure from within. Looking up, Cecile noticed that there literal _metal bars_ over the top. 

With a sinking feeling she knew, that this wasn’t a holding tank. It was a glorified prison cell. The merman couldn’t jump out, was apparently muzzled like a dog and was kept in relative darkness.

Delicate bubbles floated to the surface from a pump filter, keeping what oxygen it could within so their captive could breathe. Cecile briefly looked at it, frowned when she noticed the oxygen levels were a little below what was comfortable. Was that intentional? A few presses of some buttons and it was elevated, the pump instantly whirring faster, which caused a rush of bubbles, an exhale of breath if Cecile knew anything about merfolk, and she only got a step closer to the glass before a dark shape flung itself against it.

A _thump_ shook the glass with such force the water inside the tank trembled, splashing a little over the side, the sound of it hitting the floor was like a crack of a whip. Cecile leapt back, gasping audibly as she ducked out of the way of the water, and when she turned back she locked eyes with those of the richest gold.

The merman had flattened his webbed hands against the glass, tensing his fingers to scratch at it with his claws. The lower half of his face was covered by a metal mask, little holes providing some space to move his jaw and were enough for Cecile to see sharp teeth flashing at her. It was secured with taut leather straps that met into a buckled padlock at the back of his head. From where Cecile was standing, she could easily see they were pulled tight to his skin, undoubtedly leaving marks underneath. Otherwise, he was just as she had heard him described and briefly seen on the video footage of his previous years’ migration. Bronze scales, gold fins and tanned skin, if he were human she would guess his origin of somewhere warm, like South America. To Cecile’s intrigue, his hair seemed to be greying a little at the sides with age, yet his physique remained strong, muscles in his arms and stomach bunching as he tensed.

It was then Cecile heard a peculiar hissing, distorted somewhat from travelling through water and glass, but she heard it nonetheless. She had heard Elio make a similar noise when he was but a child and having a temper tantrum. He hadn’t produced it for a long time, so to hear it again brought memories back that she was glad to recall, if only for a moment. Without thinking about the action, Cecile raised her hands as if in surrender. It had often worked with Elio when he was very young, and she doubted it would truly set the merman at ease, but it was worth a shot. To her surprise, the hissing stopped, yet the glare of daggers did not.

He tilted his head, eyes narrowing and Cecile felt herself being sized up. She made to move to her right to take a better look at that impressive tail, yet he shifted along the glass with her, blinking slowly. When she went the other way, he did the same again. He was clearly messing with her, making things difficult, and she couldn’t blame him when he was being taken for a ride himself. She stood for a few moment more, crossing her arms loosely over her chest and feeling a small smile come to her lips. She felt sorry for him, of course she did, but if he was always going to be difficult then things would undoubtedly be made more challenging for him in the long run.

Cecile moved to check a few of the reports the computers set up next to the tank had recorded; average blood pressure, resting heart rate, several blood tests. There were other bits of information such as his weight and length, but a blank space as to what his name was. Merfolk had names, just like humans, so what was his?

Cecile smirked to herself, of course he wasn’t going to talk, much like he wasn’t eating. A tough nut to crack.

“Giving him trouble, huh?” She asked herself more than the merman, but she nonetheless looked at him when she spoke. Pointed ears twitched at the sound of her voice. “For what it’s worth, which I can imagine isn’t very much, I am sorry.” She turned up the oxygen level a little more, just because. “I am sorry this has happened to you. But if you co-operate, even just a little, I can try and make life a bit easier for you.” The merman slowly sank to the bottom of the tank, tail folded as one would sit with their legs tucked underneath them, fingers interlaced in his lap. Now he was sitting up properly, Cecile could see the strength he held in his body, it showed across his chest and rippled in his abdominal muscles. It was no wonder Jamie had been so focused on capturing him. He was quite different to Elio’s slim build.

She turned to leave, the censor activated lights already detecting she had left the room by the time she had gotten to the door. When they switched off, leaving only the fluorescent lamps over the water, she spared a glance over her shoulder.

But the merman had already moved to the back of the tank, disappearing from sight once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mon cœur = my heart in French. It's an affectionate term that you might hear used between a parent and their child. It can also be used between partners in a different context of course.
> 
> Moloka'i or Molokai Island is the fifth largest of Hawaii's eight islands. There are just approximately 7,500 people living there over a land of mostly mountains and forest. Perfect for some discreet merfolk research in the South Pacific!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cecile has a brief conversation with the wild merman, learns why he is here and is made to keep the whole truth from Elio.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: implied/referenced off-screen torture

Cecile could hear voices cheering in one of the offices reserved for the more senior staff at the Averton Facility. Her own office was located on the same floor and just down the hall from Jamie’s own personal space. Cecile counted herself lucky that she was one of the few who had a space to call their own; the majority of the other biologists that were not in Jamie’s chosen privileged few shared the entire floor as their workstation. But the one thing everyone on this floor shared; they were all in the know-how of merfolk.

It was late, the sun had long set but the island had been sheathed in darkness as the storm that had been forecast threw itself on Hawaii like the nation had personally wronged it. Storms here were fierce, as tropical ones always were. Cecile remembered the first time she had truly seen lightning strike the horizon, so much more angry and vigorous than the winter storms back home in Québec. Here, they were violent and potentially dangerous, winds strong enough to tear the rooves from houses and the roots of trees from the ground. From her window that was pelted with rain, she was safe, yet wondered how the smaller villages on Moloka’i’s remote space dealt with it. Also from the vantage of being high up, she could just make out Elio’s enclosure. The water of his tank was dark, the underwater lights turned off at his request each night. Strangely, for reasons they did not yet understand, storms made him lethargic. All he wanted to do was sleep, body entering a sort of stasis akin to hibernating animals of the land. Elio couldn’t explain why he felt that way either, which left everyone providing their own thoughts on the matter. Cecile only wished the tank was deeper for Elio to retreat into.

She turned back to her computer screen, satellite images of the captured merman’s rough direction of travel displaying in a steady slideshow of blue water and dotted green and yellow lines. It was all an estimate, a scientific production of several years watching the same pod go by that led to where they are now; with a prisoner in their basement. 

The lines on the screen, indicating an east to west travel, arched delicately as the pod naturally got closer to the Hawaiian Islands before they disappeared into the beyond. With each set of images for the corresponding years, Cecile found herself gritting her teeth as they came closer and closer, responding to the strange sound they could hear being cast. The sonar had even attracted the attention of bottlenose and rough-toothed dolphins that frequented the tropical waters of Hawaii. But where had they come from? And where were they heading to? These questions were what Jamie, and the people under his wing, were now hoping to find out from their acquisition.

Cecile flicked through the images until they changed from the satellite to the merman himself. Close-ups of his scales, some under a microscope, shots of his fins with many focusing on his dorsal that began at the back of his neck and finished halfway down his tail. It started small before rising to six inches at its highest point before gradually lessening until it melded back into his body. In a way, it reminded Cecile of a sailfish. It was even a little ripped in places likely from previous fights and interestingly, had barbs on the four highest points like that of a lionfish. However, Jamie had seen fit to pull them out the moment he had realised they were toxic, apparently concerned that they might be able to be thrown like darts should the merman have that idea.

The cheering down the hall got a little louder before it tapered off, making Cecile shut off her computer and finally call it a day. Switching off the lights and chucking her lab coat over the back of her desk chair, she grabbed her bag and headed out the door, making sure to lock it behind her. The cheering and voices she could hear, turned out to be a small impromptu celebration between some of the other biologists. She couldn’t hear much, but the things she did catch were simple congratulatory claps on the back, how everyone had done a good job and how much they had learnt in just over a week.

Had it been that long already? An entire week in that tiny tank having just been fished from the ocean couldn’t be sitting very well with the one who had to endure it.

“Just imagine what we will discover after six months, or even a year!”

Cecile paused by the door which had been left on the jar so she could just about see all the usual suspects clinking little glasses of champagne together. Cecile did not get invited to such things, she had “too much pity” for the creatures they studied so severely. More often than not, she felt like the only one here who had a heart that wasn’t made of stone.

She made up her mind right then, to pay a quick visit to the merman whose life they were changing forever. Since the first time she had seen him, Cecile had only been able to see him on two further occasions; her schedule with other merfolk research and seeing to Elio taking up most of her time. She had kept her promise, had not spoken a word of the newest addition to Elio, no matter how much her tongue had wanted to slip. It would be down to her to reveal it to him, of that she had no doubt, it was just a matter of _when._

The doors to the oval shaped room clicked shut behind her, the automated lights flicking to life like they always did. There were cameras in here, but it wasn’t like she wasn’t allowed to be in here. It was the thought of who might be watching on the other side that set her on edge.

Everything was much in the same way it had been the first day she had stepped foot in here a week ago. The workstation on which the computers were situated was a little messier, papers stacked awkwardly and the pump providing oxygen to the tank still hummed idly. The water was the same murky green, dimly lit yet dark. A slight shimmer caught her eye as she was looking over the latest blood results and frowning that the natural sugar level had been dropping since he had arrived. The sparkle of copper scales reflected the lights over the tank, bouncing through the water and was enough to make Cecile walk to stand in front of the glass.

Scratches adorned it, likely from sharp claws, and it made Cecile press her lips into a grim line. This wasn’t right, they needed to move this merman before they drove him crazy and according to his blood tests, he wasn’t eating. The thought that perhaps Jamie’s cruel streak was rearing its head and he was in reality, _starving_ the merman sat at the back of her mind. After everything she had seen him do over the years, she wouldn’t put it past him. 

Slowly, the merman’s tail drifted into view as he seemed to be in the middle of stretching. He was longer than the tank was wide and at just over seven feet in length, not that much shorter than it was deep which meant he couldn’t lie down straight. He rolled over on the spot, gold eyes catching Cecile’s hazel ones and despite the glare he was giving her, she offered a small smile. It faltered however, when she saw him properly as he moved forwards. His tail was peeling in places, like skin healing from sunburn, a few small patches of scales missing like Elio sometimes lost them when they naturally shed. However, the skin underneath was red and angry, struggling to heal for whatever reason. Parts of his dorsal fin had torn further than it was already when he arrived and the skin of his upper half looked sallow and pale despite the tanned natural colour. The dark shadows around his eyes further gave the image of complete and utter exhaustion.

All Cecile could think at that moment, was that this could have been Elio. Beautiful, kind and harmless Elio, would have been subjected to this mistreatment had Cecile not convinced Jamie to treat him like the person he was. His blood might be a different colour and he require different things to survive, but he was still just as smart and aware as the humans he was surrounded with. Surely, she could do the same again for this merman?

“What is happening to you?” She whispered, eyes roving over his form before coming back to his face. The merman looked down at himself, frowning. Cecile could see his jaw moving under the mask he _still_ wore, the straps biting into his skin and making him wince. He seemed to sigh, bubbles escaping the gills on his neck in a slow rush and to her amazement and surprise, he pushed off the tank floor, slowly rising to the surface and grabbing a hold of the edge. Cecile stood back to see him better, waited with bated breath for whatever it was he might do next.

A voice, hoarse from misuse but still firm and taught with anger sounded in the otherwise relative quiet of the room.

“Why am I here?”

Cecile released her breath, the joy of him finally speaking quickly squashed with the morbidity of his situation and the question he was asking. She gathered herself, forcing her professionalism into place.

“You’re here to be studied, so we can learn about your kind.”

He scoffed. “No shit. I meant why am I _here?_ In this fishbowl?”

“I don’t know what –”

“Yes, you do. I can smell another of my kind here. Do you think I’m an idiot?” Cecile was taken aback by his abrupt tone. Clearly, they had taken an alpha type’s sense of smell for granted and he had picked up Elio’s scent on his way down here.

“No,” she replied, “I don’t think you’re an idiot. I would have you placed in an environment more suitable, but I’m afraid that decision isn’t down to me.”

“Hah! An environment more _suitable,_ is the damn ocean. I’m not your science project.”

“It’s not that simple-”

“Yes it is!” He cut off her again and Cecile felt frustration simmer in her chest. “It is simple. I’ve been poked and prodded with innumerable sharp objects since I got here. I’ve had my scales taken, my blood drawn. I’ve had these…blackout moments where I can’t remember what happened to me. I don’t know what you’re looking for in me when you already have another mer here, so please,” he paused to draw in a breath, attempting to curb his anger before he gave in to the urge to yell at the top of his aquatic lungs. “Tell me why I am down here? Why am I not with the other mer?”

Cecile sighed, unsure of what she was permitted to give away and what she still had to hide. If the merman had already figured out that Elio was here, there didn’t seem to be much point in keeping some other details from him. The cameras in here were not just visual, they had sound too and if Jamie wasn’t listening in now, he could surely do so later.

“The other mer doesn’t know you’re here yet. They are also perhaps not…suitable, to be placed with.” Cecile hated speaking of Elio in such a degrading manner. He wasn’t an alpha type, quite the opposite.

“I know they’re a breeder type, it’s the first thing I smelt coming in,” he sighed again. “What do you think I’m going to do? Jump him?” Just like he had seemed to be doing inadvertently since he arrived here, the merman revealed another piece of information to Cecile that not only had he picked up Elio without seeing him, but also knew he was a male breeder and not a female. Storing that piece of knowledge away to investigate later, she regarded the merman with a careful stare.

“Look, I cannot imagine how you must be feeling, being ripped away from your home, but being aggressive and difficult really isn’t helping your case. I will speak to my superior about moving you, I just cannot guarantee it will be with the mer already here.”

“That’s fine. Just anywhere but here, it’s driving me crazy.” He rested his forehead on his hands for a moment where they held the edge of the tank, taking slow tired breaths. Cecile said nothing, just watched him. She had been privy to the tests that Jamie and some of the other marine biologists had already performed, but from the merman’s condition, she had the sinking feeling they were doing other things to try and make him talk.

“What…what have they been doing to you?” Cecile asked as quietly and as carefully as she could manage.

“What do you think? Look at the state of my tail!” He gestured back with one arm, splashing the water as he did so. He growled in frustration, that peculiar hiss coming through for a moment. “I don’t really know, alright? Those blackout moments…I sometimes wake up in the middle of them, or at least I think I do. Everything feels so far away and fuzzy. Pain is the only thing that brings me out of it, even if it’s only for a moment before whatever the humans have given me sends me back under.” He mimed spitting into the water. “Whatever that shit is, it makes me sick to my stomach and I tell you, it is not fun vomiting when your mouth is mostly covered.”

Cecile grimaced. “It sounds like you have been anesthetised; made to fall asleep.” _So they can do whatever they want to you._ “I won’t know how I can help unless I take a closer look at your injuries.”

“And just what are you going to do, old woman?” He snapped.

“Hey, none of that. Humans have an expression we like to use; don’t bite the hand that feeds you. It means stop being ungrateful to the one who is only trying to help you.” That quieted him, the merman falling silent and sinking below the water to cover his head for a moment before rising back up and watching her once more. “I want to help you, the same way I have been helping the merman already here. I am not going to hurt you.”

The merman tilted his head, golden eyes narrowed and Cecile held his glare for what must have been at least thirty seconds. Human and mer, staring each other down, Cecile finally felt the tension in the air dissipate when the merman heaved a sigh.

“Alright, I’ll tell you what. You get me moved out of this tank, see to my injuries and maybe…maybe I’ll talk a little.”

“Maybe?” He wasn’t exactly in the best position to try bargaining, but without him co-operating, they were getting nowhere. Jamie would likely resort to even harsher methods of extracting information, even if whatever he had been doing so far wasn’t working.

“Yeah, maybe. Depends on what you want to know.” Cecile chuckled, the sass that Elio often had was tucked well behind the walls the merman had set into place but most definitely there. She hoped, more than anything, that she could eventually gain his trust.

“Leave it to me.” With that said, the merman nodded and sank below the surface again, the conversation over. He moved to the back of the tank, the faint glimmer of his scales in the light hardly noticeable through the murkiness of the water.

*******

“You still take your coffee with cream, _non?”_ Cecile placed Jamie’s mug down on his desk in front of him and he smirked.

“Nothing can convince me to put milk in it ever again after trying it with cream.”

“Good, because we’re out of milk and I think you might have converted the entire floor to cream only from now on.”

“As it should be.” The smirk didn’t leave his face as he took a sip.

Cecile sat in the chair opposite him, the morning after a stormy night always so bright and fresh. The sunshine filled the office through its wall length windows and warmed it, the air-con system already working hard despite it only being around ten AM.

“So,” Jamie began. “What did you want to talk about so urgently?”

“The merman. I went to check on him last night and…he spoke to me.”

“Did he now?” Jamie placed he coffee mug down and leant forward in his seat. He laced his fingers together and waited for Cecile to explain. As she did so, he remained quiet, his expression stoic, yet she had the feeling he already knew all of this.

“From my observation, he isn’t well, Jamie. Exposing him to further tests in that tank will only make things worse and he will be useless if he dies on us. I know merfolk are resilient, but I don’t think he can take much more of what you’re doing. Not like this.”

“And what would you have me do, hmm? There isn’t another holding tank for him to move to, not one that doesn’t contain other marine life under our care, so where exactly would you put him?” Cecile paused with the realisation that he was going to make her suggest that she move him into Elio’s tank. It was the only other safe place for him to be.

“I think you already know where he would be most suitable.”

Jamie sipped at his coffee, the mug hitting the white glass surface a little too harshly and making the contents almost spill.

“So we house him with Elio? Just like that?”

“Unless you want to build another tank?”

“No, you’re right. Being with another of his kind can certainly only be a good thing,” Jamie looked out a window in the direction of Elio’s enclosure down below. “Do you know why we chose a Pacific mer rather than an Atlantic one?”

Cecile shook her head. She did not know, yet she had assumed it was for the ease of it with the facility overlooking the South Pacific.

“We all know that mer spend most of their gestation as eggs, but are born as live young like some sharks. We all know that mer form pairs that stay together for life but this has only been documented in the Atlantic. Pacific mer have never been seen to do such a thing. Our new merman travels this way each year with a few others and I believe the journey is to reach a place somewhere west of here to breed. He has never come back the same way, so we don’t know where he goes after but he has _always_ travelled the same path to it at the same time of year.” Jamie stood, eyes gleaming with excitement. “Don’t you see what that means, Cecile? He searches for a mate. The mer he travelled with were the same ones each year. They didn’t form bonded pairs because they didn’t need to. Pacific mer simply mate with whoever they find when they reach where they need to be, wherever their instinct has been driving them.”

Cecile knew how mer came into existence, the extreme difference from how humans did it made it easy for those that knew of them to separate their human features for the very animal-like way they reproduced. It was easy to become detached from the human characteristics when a lot of things about mer were not very human at all. Cecile thought about what Jamie was saying, read between the lines of what he truly meant and felt her heart quicken at the thought of what he intended to do.

“You want to breed him to Elio.” It was supposed to be a question, but it didn’t come out like one. Cecile fixed Jamie with a level glare, kept her voice as calm as possible despite the swirling ball of anxiety in her stomach. “That’s why you caught him, isn’t it?”

Jamie said nothing, just raised his chin a little and looked down his nose at her.

“Jamie, we can’t do that. We aren’t even supposed to be keeping Elio here but we are and now you want-”

“We saved Elio’s life, lest you forget?” He interrupted and moved to sit back in his chair. “Everything that this facility stands for, everything my father and grandfather discovered and worked to achieve would have been for nothing if we hadn’t have found that mermaid, Elio’s mother, washed ashore. They started the fire and we must fan the flames, now more than ever. What they taught myself, you and everyone else here who is privileged enough to know the truth, was put into action the day we were forced to cut your precious Elio from his mother’s womb before he had even hatched.”

“I don’t need to be reminded of how what happened. I was there, I remember.”

“Then I do not need to explain the benefits of what we will learn by breeding them together.” Jamie spread open his hands. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I will not see it go to waste. Not now that we have a breeder and an alpha in the same place under our watch.”

“Jamie,” Cecile began gently, “I agreed with the raising of Elio because I didn’t want him to die. I have raised that mer like he was my own son, I would do anything for him, you know that. But capturing this alpha, the idea of creating more mer…when would it end? What will satisfy you next?”

Jamie narrowed his eyes and Cecile _did not_ like the icy look he levelled her with.

“My father always liked you, Cecile. When I was younger, he often talked about how you were the smartest, the one most willing to learn, to do whatever it would take to further the study of mer. If he had caught his own mer, would you have questioned him like you question me now?” Cecile didn’t reply, bit her tongue between her molars hard enough she was sure she could taste blood. “My father is unfortunately no longer with us. He granted you all these privileges and authorisations that I perhaps, would not have, but he was charge then.” He leant forward. “But I am in charge now. You would be wise to remember that, as it appears it occasionally slips your mind.”

Cecile looked down at her hands and how she had made her knuckles white, fingers creaking in protest as they unclenched and revealed crescent moon shaped marks in her palms. She swallowed hard, breathing out through her nose as steadily as she could manage.

“If that is your plan, I must tell Elio right away. It’s wrong to keep this from him.”

“I disagree.” _Of course you do._ “You will tell Elio about the alpha mer and that he will be moving in, but nothing else of what we have discussed, am I clear?” When Cecile opened her mouth to protest, Jamie spoke again. “I want to see how they will react with each other. I am not risking them fighting or any other such nonsense if they know what’s in store. A more, _natural,_ introduction to each other is required. Testing the waters, if you’ll pardon the pun.”

Cecile didn’t get the pun and inwardly declared that nothing about this was _natural,_ but she held her tongue and nodded her understanding.

“Excellent!” Jamie stood, offering Cecile his coffee mug when he downed it as she stood with him which she took without thinking about it. “Now if you please, take this back to the kitchen to be cleaned and get reception to order some milk just in case anyone for whatever reason, doesn’t enjoy the deliciousness that is cream with their coffee.”

Cecile said nothing as she headed for the door, berating her pride for how it felt like it had been stamped on like a kid destroying a sand castle. She had just reached the door when, like so many times before, Jamie called out to her.

“Find out the mer’s name. I know he has one, they all do. And I will let you know when the next tests will be run on him. I’ve decided you should be the one to do them, considering how invested you are.” His smile was not comforting or warm, it was unwelcoming and cold.

“Yes, sir.” Cecile spoke through gritted teeth and closed the door behind her, heading for the kitchen down the hall. Familiar faces passed her, some ignored her, some bid her a good morning and some even said a few words more than a simple greeting. The entire time, Cecile kept biting the inside of her cheek, feeling angry tears threatening to spill but she wouldn’t let them. Not here, not ever and definitely not because Jamie had succeeded in getting under her skin yet again. His smarmy face and twisted words that he used to flip a situation around were far better suited to a different kind of work, perhaps a politician, she mused. Yet, bitter as he was to deal with, Jamie always got things done and he got things done on time. The plans he had for Elio and the new merman were just proof of his voracious appetite for discovery and results; he would stop at nothing to see this plan through.

The dishwasher door in the kitchen was closed with a little more force than was necessary and it shook the crockery within it, clinking everything together like it might topple over. It didn’t, of course, and Cecile started the machine up, grabbed her laptop from her office and promptly headed down to see Elio for the day.

He was swimming in lazy circles around the enclosure, something he often did, unable to explain why he felt the need to _move,_ to swim as if he were trying to set a personal record. He also only ever seemed to swim counter-clockwise, deep green scales glimmering against the sunlight that permeated the water and made the light they cast bounce of every surface. There were streaks of blue between his scales if you looked close enough, the colour dark like the surface water of the Great Blue Hole itself. Elio’s fins were silver, like liquid mercury and the three colours contrasted beautifully, making him truly striking to behold. He spotted her almost instantly, ceasing his swimming which made Cecile’s heart ache a little every time she saw him do it. Since they had learnt merfolk migrated, it was no surprise he felt the need to swim like that; he was unintentionally imitating it.

“Cecile!”

 _“Mon cœur,_ how are you this morning?”

“I feel better now the storm has passed. I can’t believe it lasted as long as it did.” Elio swam to the edge of the tank, a lower section of wall curling around the side that was wide enough for Cecile to sit on which she did so in a cross-legged position. She placed her laptop over her gathered legs, watching as Elio rested his head on his folded arms. Emerald eyes glinted at her and he smiled. “What’s up?”

When Cecile didn’t immediately answer, his smile faltered. “Is something wrong?” He asked. Well, that depends, doesn’t it? Cecile loaded up the information on the merman that had been a secret up until this point.

“Elio,” she began, “you know there are others of your kind out in the world, but you’re the only one in contact with humans.”

“Yeah…you said the ocean is dangerous.” Cecile hated how innocent he sounded. Yes, the ocean is dangerous, but it’s only that way to Elio because if he was exposed to it now, he wouldn’t know how to deal with it.

“Dr Averton has been working on something for a while now, something that up until about a week ago, was nothing but an idea in his head.” She sighed deeply, smelling the salt from the water tickle her senses, emulating the ocean spray no matter how artificial it might be. “Dr Averton has been observing a travelling pod of mer that have been swimming near Moloka’i Island at the same time of year, every year. They were being led by the same one, another merman like you, and there were even females in the pod. Mermaids.” 

“Wow,” Elio looked away over the open space of his home, brows drawn together a little as he mulled it over. “So he’s been what, studying them?”

“In a way. But he decided that he needed to get a little more up close and personal.” Cecile ran her tongue over her teeth, deciding the best way to reveal this was just to come straight out and say it. There was no other way. “The lead mer has been captured. He is here at the facility in a holding tank.”

Elio said nothing, instead opting to stare at Cecile like she had sprouted another head. So she continued.

“He has been here about a week while Dr Averton and his team have examined him, but he cannot stay in the tank he is in now. It’s too small, so Dr Averton and myself,” Cecile paused for a moment. _“Especially_ myself, would like to move him here. With you.”

“Here?” Elio looked around again. “Really?” He sounded like someone being offered the moon instead of a companion.

“Yes. I know it may seem like a lot to ask, but there isn’t anywhere else for him.”

“Dr Averton isn’t going to return him to the ocean?”

Cecile bit her lip, feeling the ache she seemed to be feeling more often than not these days pull at her heart once more. “No, sweet child. He is here to stay.”

“Wow…” Elio said again, sinking into the water a little. He had never seen another of his kind before, only been told about them as he was growing up. Cecile could not even begin to imagine what he must be feeling. How did it feel to be raised alone and never see another of your kind your entire life? Or at least, most of your life, for Elio hopefully had many years ahead of him. “What’s he like? What’s his name?”

His voice cut through Cecile’s inner wondering and she chuckled a little at the questions. “I won’t lie Elio, he hasn’t been very agreeable.” That was an understatement, but she spared Elio the details that he had bitten chunks out of arms and removed fingers like a hot knife through butter. “But I’m afraid I don’t know his name. He has said but a few things to me just yesterday and that was the first time I had heard him speak.” She smiled at Elio when he frowned. “Maybe he will reveal it to you instead of me.”

“So…when will he get here?”

“Most likely in the next few days, you know how Dr Averton works when he wants something done.” Cecile knew that Elio wasn’t a big fan of Mr Jamie Averton. Although he had, thankfully, never been outwardly cruel to Elio like he had been doing with the new merman, he hadn’t exactly warmed to him either, not like Cecile had. Instead, Jamie had always seen Elio as an animal, a scientific object of study, that just so happened to speak. Cecile doubted that Jamie didn’t understand that merfolk were just as sapient as humans, which meant he was simply choosing to ignore it. The thought made Cecile grit her teeth in frustration.

She described the merman to Elio, painting a picture that she hoped sounded appealing to him, especially considering the ultimate act of nature that the facility now expected of him down the line. So describing the beautiful mix of gold and copper was easy; the colours of two elements which humans valued and utilised, shining with power and strength in the scales of one of the merfolk was nothing short of breath-taking. She mentioned his dorsal fin, edging around the poisonous barbs in some of the spines, and how it graced his back from a higher position than Elio’s own; a representation of his Pacific heritage.

Cecile got as far as showing Elio the migration route on her laptop, the east to west direction and how that even though he went that way, he came back another.

“I wonder where he goes.” Elio whispered, clearly more to himself than to Cecile, but she heard him and smiled.

“I’m not sure; the ocean is so vast. Again, he might reveal this to you instead of us. He really doesn’t trust humans.” She said the last part a little morosely.

“Makes sense,” Elio replied, “you took him from his home.” His voice sounded distant, a faraway look in his eyes that Cecile felt creep its way down her spine when he fixed her with it. She knew the “you” didn’t mean her specifically, but Elio knew of his origins and how he had come to be here and although he had been nothing but pleasant to Cecile seeing as she was the one who raised him, he had moments like this. Moments of a nature too wild to tame, tucked away beneath the surface but peeking through when she least expected it. As quickly as that obscure demeanour had taken him, it vanished, buried back beneath the vibrant personality he had.

At that moment, movement caught her eye across the other side of the enclosure as Jamie made himself known. The entire space that made up where Elio lived was separate to the main facility, positioned in a way that none of the windows on the main building could see it down below. Beyond an innocent enough reception desk, the security to get through involved fingerprint identification and retina scans. It was locked tight, separate in every way so the study of merfolk could continue in its seclusion and questionable methods.

Jamie made his way over, nodding a silent greeting to Elio who simply nodded back. “Cecile, I would speak with you,” he deadpanned, eyes flicking Elio’s way. “In private.” Cecile fought the urge to frown and instead closed her laptop, feeling her bones creak a little as she rose from her position. Yoga be damned, no amount of it would fend off the onset of what age did to the body.

Once out of earshot of Elio, who had gone back to swimming his daily dose of circles, Cecile realised Jamie was leading her down to the mezzanine floor. “What’s happened?”

“Our aquatic friend is having a temper tantrum. Seeing as you’re the only one he gave pause to, I want you to try and calm him down.”

“Calm him down, _how?_ What is he doing?”

Jamie looked at her, eyes empty of anything Cecile could place. “You’ll see.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The introduction of the wild merman into Elio's tank doesn't go quite as planned when a dangerous situation forces Cecile to place him with Elio sooner than she thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Degloving injury. If you don't know what this is, Google at your own risk. You have been warned.

He knew it! He _knew_ there was something going on, something he could smell and taste on the back of his tongue that made his skin prickle. Elio just had no idea that the strange scent he was picking up was another of his kind. And why should he? He had never seen another mer before. Now, he felt like hitting himself in the head with his tail at the fact he had been scenting another mer for the past week and had been none the wiser. Cecile’s description had him imagining all sorts of images of bronze coloured scales and golden fins. He had been leading the pod he travelled with, others actively followed him, so what would that bring to his personality? Dr Averton had people who followed him too and he was cold and authoritative. If the merman was going to be like that in Elio’s space, he had another thing coming.

He couldn’t relax, the prickly sensation on his skin revealing itself to be anticipation. He almost felt afraid, but chalked it down to simple nerves. Cecile had said this was the first live capture in history, which begged the question as to why he had been captured in the first place. Surely, Elio wasn’t going to be replaced? Dr Averton had ceased his somewhat invasive methods of analysis a couple of years ago now, leaving only monthly blood samples to be taken and Cecile still collected any loose scales that he shed. Yet nothing else remarkable had happened and it left him wondering that perhaps Dr Averton had simply become bored of him. Forced to look elsewhere and take a wild mer in order to get the answers he needed to the questions he kept asking.

Elio knew his situation was unique; he was the only captive mer in the world. In the beginning, it had been difficult for him to comprehend when he was old enough to understand the enormity of the ocean he had come from. How could he possibly be the only one who lived this way? The crushing loneliness he had felt for years had dissipated with time. Cecile wasn’t a mer, yet she had spent most of her life studying them and although she could never truly understand how Elio might be feeling, her presence and the things she had taught him had been the only things that had brought him out of his shell. She was kind, knowledgeable and had been the one to tell Elio many of the facts and theories of his own people, teaching him things second-hand which he stored away to reflect on. Sometimes, it didn’t feel real, but as Elio had gotten older, he accepted it for what it was. The morbid alternative was that if it wasn’t for Cecile, or even Dr Averton, he would be dead.

Elio returned to his swimming, the inner desire to keep moving and focusing on not hitting the curved walls helping to steady his mind and calm his thoughts. There was a glass wall underneath the water at one end of the tank, smooth and see-through, Elio often saw Cecile there with some of the other staff working with her. They would watch him and the way he moved, marvelling at how fluidly he travelled through the water like a dolphin, how easily he could turn at a moment’s notice. Elio remembered when he couldn’t speak as well as could now, so Cecile taught a few hand gestures to communicate with him. She would stand in the space behind the glass wall, sign a question for Elio and he would sign the answer back. It had been a daily thing, something to keep him entertained. Once Elio began to speak like a human, Cecile then taught him to read. One thing after another, she showed him how humans did things to make sure he felt included.

Nowadays, the space had been turned into an office of sorts with desks, computers and paperwork. Elio stopped by the glass, sinking down to the tank bottom and pressing a hand to it. Translucent webbing spread between his fingers, delicate claws made a pleasant _clink_ as they tapped against it. There were people on the other side, that much he could see. Scientists, biologists, whatever they called themselves, none of them paid Elio much mind. He knew that to them, he was just an object. They never spoke to him unless they absolutely had to, asking clinical questions and maintaining an air of distance between themselves and Elio. At the back of his mind, he wondered if they might actually be afraid of him in some small way.

Perhaps, he mused, that with another mer to talk to, he would finally be treated for what he really was.

*******

Copper; that was the first thing Cecile smelt when the elevator doors opened on the mezzanine floor. It hit her nose and made it wrinkle in disgust as she followed Jamie down the hall, matching his somewhat hurried pace. Halfway down, screams ripped through the air and made her falter in her step for a second before she caught herself, rushing into the room where the merman was kept as the doors swung open.

What appeared to be all of Jamie’s team were here, their white lab coats sweeping behind them as they moved around the room. The floor was splattered with blood, its vivid crimson colour contrasting against the neutral slate grey, some of it adorning the white of the uniforms of the men and women who seemed to move in slow motion as Cecile took everything in. The water of the tank was a mass of splashing, cascading over the sides and washing the blood further towards the doors like it was trying to get past them. On the bars that covered the top of the tank, a man from the senior team was flailing wildly, screaming at the top of his lungs in agony as one of his arms appeared to be trapped, _caught,_ under the water of the tank.

“Get the tranquilisers, now! Hurry!”

“Call the medics!”

“Get that thing off him!”

“It’s got my fucking arm!”

Voices scattered and mixed together, but the few shouts that Cecile picked up had her spiralling back from the initial shock. The merman had the _arm_ of the man that for some reason, was on top of the tank. As Cecile stepped closer, feeling the liquids on the ground slosh with the movement, her foot kicked something.

The mask. Someone had removed the mask it seemed, and now they were suffering the consequences. 

Jamie literally ushered Cecile forward, yet she was unsure of what to do. The water was slowly turning red and the tortured screams of the man only intensified with every passing second. Cecile pounded a fist against the glass, felt just how thick it really was and quickly changed her tactic. Steeling her nerve, she used the step ladder the caught man had also used to get up there, and hauled herself up and above him. The bars up here were not wide by any means, easy enough for her hands to grab onto, yet she struggled with her feet. Deciding to awkwardly kneel with her knees wedged between the bars, Cecile was instantly soaked in bloody water as the merman thrashed. The reflective scales were still visible through the darkening water and she swore for a moment she caught his eyes through the murk. He stilled for an instant when he saw her, hissing like a snake before he twisted in place.

His mouth was latched around the bend of the man’s elbow, teeth so deep Cecile could only see gums exposed from peeled back lips. At that moment, despite the human features they shared, there was nothing human about him at all; he was a predator of the ocean.

There was a split second of calm just before he rolled, the man’s head whose arm he had captured was right next to Cecile as she held onto him by the shoulders, but the next few seconds whizzed past her. The merman rolled with a hiss that sounded louder than it probably was, as skin was ripped from bone with morbid grace like peeling off a bandage. The second of forward momentum the merman created pushed Cecile and the man back enough that his seized arm was raised out of the water, and Cecile got a close up view as blood exploded from the wound. Tendons and muscle shredded with a wet squelch and a flash of white bone was just visible under so much red. Deafened by the roar of pain, unlike anything she had ever heard before, Cecile felt blood hit her face, across her cheeks and her neck. It was hot, felt like it scalded her skin as she felt a shriek escape her mouth.

“Cecile!” Jamie’s voice cut through the cacophony of sounds in her ears, and either through sheer luck or perfect timing, he tossed a syringe full of anaesthesia and she caught it mid-air. Thumb on the plunger, she didn’t know how many moments passed as she waited for the rolling forward movement to happen again. The screaming had stopped and the man slumped forward, likely unconscious but soon to be dead if she didn’t act now. The merman released the man’s arm, twisting around so he could look up at Cecile. As quick as a viper, he lurched for her, spitting a mouthful of blood out which quickly dissipated in the water before he broke the surface with a roar. One of his webbed hands clasped her wrist she was using to hold herself upright and Cecile felt the inhuman strength slowly crushing her bones.

She drew in a breath, held it, and only let herself breathe out the moment the syringe’s needle imbedded itself into the merman’s neck and her thumb pushed the plunger down. He snarled, a jagged sound somewhere between a hiss and a growl, but he released her wrist as he sank underneath the water. Cecile’s deathlike grip on the syringe faltered and she let go of it before he fell away. Its chemical reaction was almost instant; Jamie had clearly tripled the dosage to make it so. Arms around her pulled her back, supporting her as the adrenaline receded. Cecile sagged into the chair she was placed in as the room was filled with medical staff, a couple of them asking her questions that she couldn’t find the strength to answer. The man on top of the tank was lifted off with the help of several others, lowered onto a stretcher and promptly taken away. A hand on her shoulder steadied her, and Cecile was glad for it as she took deep steadying breaths. The gratitude flaring up in her chest was quelled when she saw it to be Jamie.

Still remarkably emotionless albeit with the smallest of frowns, he nodded once before removing his hand. The ringing Cecile felt in her ears lessened with each heartbeat, and she heard Jamie mutter into his phone.

“Send the janitors down to the mezzanine immediately. Pay them double for the day.”

*******

The sun was well on its way to setting, casting hues of gold and pink across the withering blue of the sky. It had sunk too low for Elio to see it over the walls that surrounded where he lived, but he could see its rays nonetheless. After a couple of hours of swimming, he had spread himself on the small sandy beach section of the enclosure, helping himself to one of the books Cecile had left him in a container she called an “ice box”. No ice was stored in it of course, but it was completely water tight, which meant even when it rained it could be left out and the delicate books within were high and dry. As the lights beneath the water and on the walls around him had come on for the evening, Elio had crawled halfway up the beach, settled down on his front and began to read. The chosen book today was _The Old Man and the Sea,_ a story of an aging man catching a great marlin and struggling to bring it ashore for three days, battling exhaustion and delirium before he finally made it back to land. Cecile had said the author, was famous for his stories and had won awards for his work and as Elio began working his way through the book, he could understand that.

So enraptured with it as he was, he didn’t immediately notice the commotion that made itself known through the only doors in the walls as a way both in and out for the humans. They were shouting, voices shrill as they barked orders at each other. Two of Dr Averton’s team held the doors open while several others pushed a large rectangular container on wheels into the space surrounding Elio’s tank. He spotted Cecile among them, white faced and weary looking with white wrappings around her left wrist. She held it to her chest to keep it out of the way as she directed the other staff to where she wanted them; right where Elio was laying. She caught his gaze and hurried on ahead of the container as its shiny metal surface reflected the last rays of sunlight.

“Elio, I need you to move out of the way, please.”

“What’s going on?” His tail had been curled upwards like a scorpion, hanging over his back as he stretched it, making a splash as it hit the water and he sat up. 

“There was a…an incident, with the new merman. He must be moved to your tank right away. I’m sorry, _mon cœur._ ” She looked it too, tired and worn out from whatever this incident was. Whatever had happened must have truly gotten to her; he had never seen Cecile looking so defeated. “Please,” she continued when he didn’t instantly move, holding her hand out to take the book. “Go to your cave and remain there until I call you. It’s for your own safety.”

Elio felt himself bristle at being told what to do, but he didn’t have it in him to start questioning and back-chatting to Cecile when she looked so exhausted and also injured. Had the merman hurt her? What had happened? Relenting, he passed the book to her and shuffled backwards into the water. It felt cold on his skin after a while out of it as it always did, but he quickly accustomed to it once more as made his way inside his cave. Elio turned to face the entrance once inside, holding onto a rock to keep himself in place as he heard, and could just about make out through the incoming darkness, an almighty _splash._ The container, or whatever it was, obviously housed the merman in order to move him and the moment it hit the water, the bottom half of it opened and he pushed himself out.

Elio stilled, hardly breathing and feeling his pulse thunder in his ears at the first sight of another mer. He was here, _right here,_ in Elio’s tank with him and he could hardly believe it! He thought there might be some sort of introduction between them, especially if they were going to be sharing a space, but even if there was going to be it appeared things had changed. A change that apparently, the merman may have caused himself.

As Elio let out a slow breath, trying to calm his excitement, he watched as the merman sluggishly half swam and half drifted to the bottom of the tank. The underwater lights caught the colours he possessed, like exotic jewels Elio had seen pictures of. The gold of his fins reminded him of the sunset above the surface, the bronze scales like the coins Cecile sometimes had clinking in her pocket. The merman didn’t seem to register his presence, instead hitting the tank floor a little roughly before he began pulling himself along the bottom. He looked just as exhausted as Cecile had been, looked thinner that she had made him sound. Elio’s night vision wasn’t perfect, but it was far better than a human’s, enough for him to be able to see the rough patches of exposed skin on his tail and the ripped dorsal fin that lined his back. What had happened to him? Elio was itching to know, had to stop himself from dashing over there and assisting the visibly wounded mer, but he didn’t move. Biting his lip, it took all of Elio’s willpower to remain still and calm as he watched the merman finally come to a stop on the far side of the tank. He had positioned himself under one of the lights, the brightness of it obscuring his vision so Elio could no longer see him in detail, only his dark shape with their tail curled around them, the fluke partially covering his head. Figuring he wanted to be left alone for now, Elio settled back inside the cave and opted for an early night.

Cecile must have been able to see from the underwater cameras monitoring the sea cave and observed Elio decide to sleep early as she didn’t call for him and let him be. When he opened his eyes a little before dawn the next morning, he instantly sprang to life. Invigorated by the prospect of finally meeting the merman, his heart sank a little when he slowly drifted out of the cave to discover the merman had barely moved. He had drifted a little with the artificial currents in the tank designed to replicate the ocean environment, but otherwise was as still as he could manage, folded in on himself. Elio sucked in a breath, pulling his lips between his teeth for a moment as he decided what to do. Should he go over and introduce himself? He would have to eventually, right?

There was one smaller rock that adorned almost the centre of the tank floor, something he often used to sit on and rest for a moment before doing something else. Elio moved himself over it, using his tail as an anchor to hold on so he wouldn’t float away. The merman wasn’t far from him now and much bigger than he seemed from a distance. The very early light the day brought had yet to fully break, leaving a lot of the tank in darkness as the underwater spotlights were off. There was enough for Elio to see though, enough for him to appreciate what his new acquaintance looked like. His scent was strange up close, exotic and wild like the ocean he had come from. It slid over Elio’s gills and hit the back of his nose, heady and strong. It made him sigh a little, scenting the strength it held in the body it came from.

However, as the minutes passed and Elio sat, unable to see the merman’s face with his fluke covering it, nothing happened. He was sure his own unique scent was in the water if he could smell the merman’s own, yet the stranger hardly moved. Elio felt his curiosity bleeding away into frustration, so he cleared his throat as loud as possible. He watched, with mixed mirth and nervousness as the merman finally moved, his tail shifting back into its normal position straight behind him as he propped himself up on one arm, rubbing his face with the other hand. When he opened his eyes, Elio was struck with an intense golden gaze that made him gasp a little. It was stern, but not unkind and most definitely curious. Slightly tanned skin, the opposite of Elio’s pale tone, was still taught over muscles on his chest, arms and back. It didn’t matter that he was thinner, clearly from a lack of food rather than how he was actually meant to be. His collarbone stuck out a little sharply, shoulder blades visible more than was normal, but Elio could still see the strength in him. His ears were pointed, like Elio’s own, his jaw wide and nose straight. His gills pulsed slowly as he drew breath and as he had revealed himself and sat up, Elio could see thin faded scars down his left arm, twisting like kelp vines from his shoulder to his forearm.

Just as Elio was about to open his mouth to speak, a rush of sounds erupted from the merman. It resonated inside Elio’s head, making his ears twitch and he frowned. It was a stuttering mix of ticks and clicking trills, an alien sound to Elio yet something at the back of his mind made him feel like he should know what the vocalisations were. It was clearly a language, something that made Elio feel the onset of embarrassment at his lack of understanding that he wasn’t sure how to express. What if he couldn’t communicate with this mer? The scenarios he began to conjure were nothing short of awkward and shameful and terrible and –

“Don’t speak the language, huh? Thought I’d give it a shot anyway.”

He spoke. The merman _spoke,_ in the language of the humans that Elio could utilise. It was distorted somewhat underwater, but he was fine with that so long as they could converse. Before he could ask anything, the merman spoke again.

“How in the seven seas do you not speak the Pacific dialect? We’re surrounded by it! Or at least, we were.”

“I-I’m not from the ocean,” Elio managed to get out, feeling a little sheepish at the declaration. “I was born here.”

“You were _what?”_ Incredulous, the merman sat further upright.

“I was born here,” he parroted. “Lived here all my life and raised by the humans.”

“No shit?” He shifted so his back was against the tank wall, tail straight out in front of him. “I thought our kind would always roam free, yet here you are, proving me wrong.” He shook his head and moved his hands into his lap, the webbing between his fingers splaying as he clenched and unclenched his fists.

“I knew there were others like me, but out there,” Elio began, “but I only learnt several days ago that you were here also. You’re the first mer I have ever seen.”

“That’s a damn shame,” the bronze merman sighed wistfully. “We’re not exactly topping the popularity chain in the ocean. Every single mer counts.” He looked at Elio with eyes that spoke of wisdom and held experience. Just what sorts of things had he seen? What stories of the ocean could he tell?

“Yes, well, that’s just how it’s always been. It’s not so bad,” Elio looked around at the open space of the enclosure. “There’s three meals a day or more if you wanted I’m sure. Cecile is always around to speak to and she can bring you almost anything else you want. Plus, there’s space to swim and a beach to sunbathe and the pebbles feel great on your scales and -”

“Hey kid, slow down. I’m not here by choice, I was taken from the ocean and chucked into a glass box that I could hardly turn around in and treated like shit for I don’t even know how many days. I’ve been stuck and poked with countless sharp human objects just about everywhere and have hardly been given anything to eat, though I doubt anything on offer here even rivals what I would normally consume. I’m sure this pond is nice to you and all, but it’s not even a teardrop’s worth of what I’m used to.” He huffed in annoyance, raking a hand through sandy coloured hair and closing his eyes. “I just wanna get out of here,” he bit out through gritted teeth before softly adding, “I just wanna go home.”

Elio didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know the words to speak to try and offer comfort to one so out of their depth, wouldn’t even know where to begin. So he stayed quiet, picking at a loose scale almost ready to shed and feeling like he had been told off even though he knew he actually hadn’t. This wasn’t how his first meeting with the new merman was supposed to go, at least not in his own head. He imagined gently introducing himself and showing him the space that was the tank. He had managed to explain the things on offer before he was interrupted, but what the merman had added had only made him feel remorse. He realised, after only a few minutes, he pitied him.

“I’m sorry,” Elio finally replied after the silence between them began to weigh heavier than the clouds before a storm. “I know that might not mean anything to you, but I’m sorry that this has happened to you. I cannot imagine what you must be going through.”

A heavy sigh sounded in the quiet morning of the tank. “I’m not having a go at you, kid. I’m just…freaking out a little. Maybe.”

Elio offered a small smile. “My name isn’t “kid” by the way, I am definitely not a child at twenty-two. It’s Elio.”

“Pff, twenty-two still seems like a kid to me when you’re a lot older than that.”

“And how old is that?”

The merman almost smirked, but caught his reaction before it could slip. “Older than twenty-two.” He replied evasively.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, I guess. Welcome.”

“Gee, thanks. I’ve had a hell of a welcome I’m sure not to forget anytime soon.” The merman rolled his eyes and began to push up from the floor. “Look, it’s been way too long since I’ve been able to swim properly, do you mind?” He gestured to the lightening blue of the water.

“Oh! Of course, go right ahead.” As he made to swim off, Elio realised something. “Wait! You…you haven’t told me your name.”

The over the shoulder look he got had Elio wondering if he wasn’t going to get an answer. Several seconds passed of gold eyes staring down emerald green, before finally he seemed to relent on an exhale of bubbles.

“Tytus,” he grumbled in his deep voice. “My name is Tytus.”

Bronze and gold filled Elio’s vision for a moment as the merman, Tytus, turned his back and swam away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _The Old Man and the Sea_ is a novella written by Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) in 1952.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elio finds it difficult to connect with his new companion and Cecile and the team make profound physiological discoveries when more tests are run on Tytus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: None

The following few days were nothing but short sharp sentences and building disappointment. Tytus revealed very little about himself, leaving Elio more curious each time they conversed as he tried to get to know him. If he dug too deep on something, Tytus closed off and became silent. He swam in slow circles every day for hours on end, ate just enough to get by and seemed set on staying in a foul mood for however long he would be here. Elio wondered what had happened to him, what Tytus meant by “stuck and poked with sharp human objects” actually meant. Elio had experienced this himself, but there was clearly something else going on that had happened to Tytus, something he didn’t so much as want to think about, let alone talk about. The most they had spoken was on the first day he arrived in the tank. Every day, Elio tried to be nice and remained civil; offering food and trying to start a conversation.

Tytus largely ignored him and when he wasn’t swimming, he was curled in the same spot as he had first been in, tail bent around him and lazing for hours on end. He didn’t go to the surface, in fact, he stayed well away from it as he circled. Tytus kept to the bottom half of the water and most definitely kept well away from where the tank’s bottom sloped up and turned into sand that made up the beach area.

Cecile sat in the sand with her legs stretched out in front of her, left wrist still in a cast of sorts but she looked better. She had visited Elio more often than she ever had in a long time, at least not since he was a child, and he quickly understood that it was a mix of her checking on him for his own safety and her own peace of mind. Possibly to also extract any information that Elio might have gotten, but so far, it wasn’t going so well.

“He hardly speaks to me,” Elio complained as he pulled himself onto the beach and laid on his back, the seagulls high above calling to one another. “I’ve tried being nice and I’ve given him his space, but he’s in such a foul mood I’ve only learnt his name.”

“It’s alright, Elio. The main thing I was worried about was that he would try and attack you as he has done with several others here.” She trailed off and scanned the water, trying to look for a dark shape beneath it that was Tytus.

“He hurt you, didn’t he?” Elio gestured to her wrist. “He’s the one who did that.”

Cecile sighed but relented. “He was, but the situation at the time was…difficult. He was in such a moment of blind fury I doubt he really knew what he was doing.”

“Don’t try and defend him,” Elio cut in. “If he’s being an _asshole_ as I have heard many of the humans here use that word, then you can just say he’s being as asshole. He is right now, anyway.”

“At least you know his name,” Cecile reassured. “That’s all we wanted to know right now. I’m sure everything else will come with time.”

_We._

Dr Averton and his team and who knew who else, Cecile included. She had once explained how the facility came to be, how it had all started with Dr Averton’s grandfather and had stayed in the family since. Elio recalled that there were other humans unrelated to anyone working here who invested money into keeping the merfolk research going. The concept of money was a little lost on Elio at first but when he understood that nothing got done with someone paying for something, he decided that humans seemed to enjoy making their lives difficult for themselves. However, whoever these humans were, they were in the background, located elsewhere in the world and keeping to themselves. It was odd, for lack of a better word. 

Cecile’s optimism that other things Tytus had yet to reveal would come with time had instilled some hope in him, yet it dwindled with every day that he was snubbed and ignored. On the sixth day of doing so, Elio’s patience was at an end.

“You’re very rude, you know,” he sat a few feet away from Tytus who had settled on the little rock at the bottom of the tank and picked apart a live crab with surprising care. “I know you’re angry, I get it, but this sour mood you’re in is starting to wear off onto me.”

“Well, just ignore me then.” Tytus retorted like that was the obvious conclusion.

“How can I? We live here together now, you hardly speak to me and -”

“I’m not here to chat.”

“Well then what are you here for?”

“I don’t fucking know!” Tytus snapped, dropping the crab which quickly scuttled away despite missing three legs. “I have no fucking idea why I’m really here. I have nothing to offer the humans that they don’t already know just from studying you your whole damn life.”

Elio felt white hot anger boil in his chest, dug his claws into his palms to try and calm himself. “You’re an asshole,” he muttered.

“Tsk, is that some human insult you’ve picked up? You’re more like them than you realise.” Tytus scanned the floor for the crab, but it had already camouflaged itself on the rock somewhere.

“Regardless of what you think of me and the humans, they saved my life. I would be dead if it wasn’t for them, if it wasn’t for Cecile. Even being here, in a tank and not in the ocean, is better than being dead.”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about, kid,” Tytus turned to fully face him, ears flattened and glaring daggers at Elio. “Don’t you see what they’ve done to you? They’ve changed you into something you’re not, some sympathetic thing that looks like a mer, but isn’t. You don’t speak our language, you’ve never seen the ocean and you don’t even smell like one of us.”

Stunned into silence, Elio felt his teeth gritting in desperate anger, eyes burning dangerously. “You know, I was looking forward to meeting another mer for the first time, I foolishly had my hopes up that we might get along. But no, what you don’t realise is that your attitude is just like some of the humans here too; nasty and vindictive. If someone like you represents what our kind has to offer, then I’m better off here, away from those who choose to speak to someone trying to help them like they’re worth less than dirt.” Elio seethed as his words poured out, hoped that Tytus would feel every word like they were a physical blow. It looked like Tytus was about to speak back, but Elio didn’t let him, held up a hand. “Don’t talk to me unless you have something nice to say.”

Cecile had said that once when he was child throwing a tantrum over something stupid. He had called her names, said horrible things and when he was about ready for round two, she had come out and said that and not listened to anything he had to say until he calmed down. Maybe that was all Tytus needed? To _chill the fuck out?_ Elio retreated to his cave and blew out a harsh breath when he was by himself, out of the presence of that insufferable and miserable mer. What bugged him, was that Tytus wasn’t exactly wrong; Elio was different and like a human more often than not, but was that his fault? He didn’t want to die, would be forever grateful to Cecile for making sure he stayed alive so he could meet her, be raised by her and have her teach him all the wonderful things she had done. Life was worth living, even if it was sheltered and at times lonely.

He just had to make Tytus see that too, but how?

After their little fight, Elio did outright ignore Tytus when they had to come near each other to collect food. On the first few days, Elio had brought the offerings of fish and crab down to the bottom of the tank so Tytus wouldn’t have to swim in the shallows to get it, something he clearly didn’t like doing. But now, he only took enough for himself and let Tytus grumble and complain to himself in that strange clicking language he favoured as he was forced to breach the surface of the water. When he did, his dorsal fin flattened, melting into the shape of his back before it flared back up when he was beneath the surface again. When Elio looked closely, he could sharp points on the four highest spines that had not been there when he first set eyes on him. Just another thing he wanted to ask about yet knew he wouldn’t get an answer to.

*******

“I must admit, I am both relieved and disappointed,” Jamie stood at the head of the rectangular table in the main boardroom. A screen and projector had been set up, casting their images of merfolk study in a slow slideshow. It was everything that they had taken of both the new merman, Tytus, and of Elio also. Around the table for the meeting were the rest of Jamie’s comprised team, the elite that he had had picked for this job. Stern faced and sombre, they took their work just as serious as Jamie himself did and it was all eyes on him as he spoke.

He took a sip of creamy coffee before continuing. “I am relieved as our subjects have not attacked and tried to kill each other but I am disappointed that they seem to be fighting in other ways, if what we can get from Cecile’s conversation with Elio is correct. The underwater cameras are struggling to pick up the words they’re speaking, but we can certainly agree that from their body language, they appear to be at an impasse with how to get along.”

“Dr Averton, if I may?” One of the team raised his hand to speak, Jamie allowing it with a nod as if he were the teacher in a classroom. “Do you think their behaviour towards one another is because of Elio’s lack of social graces with his own kind? Perhaps he is being too…strange, to the other mer?”

Cecile tutted internally; of course they would try and pin this on Elio.

“It’s a possibility,” Jamie agreed. “Yet, I think this Tytus, as he calls himself, is being purposefully crude with his sociality. I strongly believe he is taking out his dislike for us, on Elio.” Muttering and the nodding of heads followed Jamie’s declaration in a wave of agreement. Those to the left and right of Cecile didn’t turn to speak to her, only the ones on the other side of them. She didn’t care, not when they acquiesced so easily that if Jamie told them to jump into Mauna Loa in the name of science, they would.

“Dr Averton?” Another raised hand and cautious speaker. “Do you think their fertility cycles will match up? Perhaps that will make them nicer to each other.”

The room fell silent, everyone going from looking at the woman who had asked the question to regarding Jamie and awaiting his answer. Cecile was sure if a pin dropped right now, she would have been able to hear it.

“An excellent question,” Jamie smiled without it reaching his eyes. “Elio goes into season once a year, every year since he was around eighteen years old. We can assume that this is the same for all merfolk, alphas included. As lacklustre as it is, this has kept their numbers at a steady level rather than rapidly increasing like humans.” He tapped a few buttons on the computer attached to the projector, making the slideshow freeze on reports of Elio’s bloodwork. “Elio’s hormone levels are rising naturally, perhaps a little sharper than they have in previous years but we can ascertain that this is due to Tytus’ presence. In around six weeks or so, he will be in a full heat and, due to the requests on the _ethical_ side of things, this will allow them time to bond.” Cecile felt the jab at her for what it was.

“And if they don’t?” A voice in the room asked.

“Then they do not have a choice in the matter,” Jamie shrugged one shoulder. “I will have given them more than enough time to get to know one another, if they haven’t bonded on some level in six weeks’ time, nature will take its course anyway.”

“Dr Averton, the bloodwork of Tytus shows his hormone levels are perfectly normal, they’re not increasing at all and we aren’t sure why. Do you have a backup plan if he doesn’t mate with Elio?”

“I shall not need a backup plan,” Jamie assured, raising his chin and looking down his nose at the staff member who had dared to question him. The man in question shrunk a little in his seat before Jamie turned his gaze to Cecile. “Dr Landron, I would like you to set up the ultrasound equipment right away in the mezzanine floor where the holding tank is.” He turned to bark orders to the others who immediately sprang into action.

“You’re not putting him back in there, surely?” Cecile queried after nearly everyone had left the room.

“Of course not,” Jamie huffed. “We are simply going to take him down there as all the equipment we need at this moment is also located there. We’re going to check for any dormant eggs and then he can return to the enclosure.” Cecile sighed a little in relief than Tytus wouldn’t be going back in that awful place. She watched the last of the team filter out of the room before she turned to put on her coat from the back of her chair.

“What are you still doing here? Get going, we have work to do.”

Cecile just nodded, bit her tongue to prevent her from snapping back at him as she headed down to the mezzanine floor. All the computers and equipment were still idly whirring as the automatic lights flickered on. The holding tank, mercifully, had been drained of the sickening coloured water and scrubbed clean, now nothing but an empty glass box. A gurney of sorts was wheeled in, all shiny metal and largely nondescript with the exception of what was obviously restraints made of the same material as the rest of it. One for each wrist, one around the neck, the middle and the base. Cecile helped roll the gurney into place, locking the wheels and running a hand over the restraints. They were all placed just so; Jamie must have had this made especially made for Tytus.

The next step proved just the challenge that Cecile thought it might be. Someone was in position with a dart gun, divers braver than Cecile were ready to go in and hoist Tytus out of the water with a sling, everyone was prepared. From the doors into the area, Cecile could see him swimming in circles much like Elio did and thankfully, he didn’t seem to notice anyone was watching him. It was only when Elio’s head surfaced with a confused look on his face that Tytus paused at the action, at his own peril, as the _whoosh_ of a dart gun cut through the air. It hit Tytus in the back and with the awful hissing screech he made, Elio sped to the beach in a panic. He practically jumped onto the sand to escape the rage that encompassed Tytus as he writhed, trying to reach the dart where it sat in the meat of his of centre back. His movement pushed him closer to the surface and the hissing he made broke free, so much clearer in the air. His flailing pushed water in every direction, the sounds of his tailfin slapping against the water’s surface like the clapping of hands. Several seconds passed and as the drugs took hold of him, Tytus finally stilled and sank like a stone the tank floor.

Cecile ran to Elio, making him jump as she placed a hand on his shoulder as he was so transfixed he had not heard her approach.

“What are they doing to him now?” He asked her.

“More tests, _mon cœur,_ more tests.”

“I hate that sound he makes, it makes me shiver.” The look of shock on Elio’s face melded into one of disgust.

“Yes, me too.” That she could agree with. Jamie cleared his throat to catch her attention as four divers climbed over the low wall to descend into the water. The same contraption they had used to release Tytus into the tank in the first place rolled next to where Jamie stood at the back of the beach, ready to take him down to the mezzanine floor.

“It’s barbaric,” Elio whispered, making Cecile look back at him. “What you’re doing to him, it’s cruel. You’re hurting him.”

“Elio, this is the only way. He will not co-operate otherwise.” Cecile internally begged Elio to understand, hoped with everything she had that he didn’t think she was the one solely responsible for Tytus’ treatment so far. 

Elio pulled away from her touch on his shoulder, shimmying down the beach until he was able to both float and use his forearms to keep himself upright on his front. He watched with his wide, deep green eyes as Tytus was dragged onto the beach, wrapped in a sling that took the four divers all the strength they had in order to pull him out of the water. With some difficulty, they managed to get him inside the container and as quickly as they could fare, wheeled him away. Cecile stood up from her crouched position, knees clicking as she did so and watched the group leave. Jamie stepped onto the beach, his shiny black shoes sinking into the sand as he walked.

“Be thankful, little one, that you are treated with the love of one such as Cecile. She would never hurt you.” He bent down to Elio’s level, the mer he spoke to tilting his head at the strange remark. “I can’t say she feels the same about our new friend though.”

“Dr Averton.” Cecile deadpanned, making him turn and stand to face her. “Shall we go?”

He held her gaze for a second longer than was needed, face expressionless. “Yes, let’s.” Off he went, kicking sand everywhere as he freed it from the base of his shoes and disappearing behind the doors. Cecile turned to Elio, put on her most neutral face.

“We will talk later, alright?” Elio looked at her, that peculiar faraway look gracing his beautiful face again, but he nodded once before turning back into the water. He gave a hard downward shove of his tail to propel him forwards, splashing the water in such a way it would have hit Cecile had she not moved.

Yes, they really needed to talk. Her patience with Jamie and his secrets was withering with every day.

When she reached the mezzanine floor, the buzz of excitement in the air was palpable. Tytus was strapped to the gurney made for him, out for the count and eyes firmly shut.

“How much did you give him?” She asked Jamie as he began tapping away at his laptop on one of the desks nearby.

“Enough to keep him quiet. If for some reason he does wake up, he shouldn’t have the strength to start kicking off.”

Shouldn’t, huh? That didn’t mean he _couldn’t._

Cecile took an offered white hand towel from one of the other longest serving members of Jamie’s team besides herself. Darren was a little bit older and had also known Jamie’s father. He was quiet and reserved, rarely speaking unless he absolutely had to. Cecile thanked him quietly, feeling his enduring presence at her side as she wiped dry the area on Tytus she would need to scan.

Merfolk reproduction was one of the biggest curiosities in existence, pieced together from the sparse knowledge of witnessing wild mer breeding before cameras were a thing to record it. Alpha mer carried their eggs in a pouch deep inside them, laying them in a breeder type where they were then fertilised, much like a male seahorse. Gender roles went out of the window; it was far too human a concept and the rules of ocean chose not to pick a side between what was strictly male and what was female, gifting the merfolk with the ability to have two available breeder genders, though the alphas were always male. The eggs in the alpha’s pouch was accompanied by a fluid containing their gametes, a substance which was transferred in its entirety when they were safely inside a womb. It was thought, but not yet truly understood, that the seminal fluid they released triggered a chemical reaction in the breeder mer, causing them to release their own gametes fluid from a seed gland at the back of their uterus which was then absorbed into the eggs and _voilà,_ baby mer were conceived.

Studying Elio’s reproductive system when he came of the age to see it in full working order had led to the discovery of this elusive seed gland in the place of mammalian ovaries, yet this was the first time they were taking a look at an alpha’s side of it. Despite the rough method of subduing Tytus and everything else that had happened to him so far, Cecile couldn’t help her excitement of the prospect of what they might discover in the next few minutes, of how much was about to proven correct or not.

When the ultrasound machine was ready to go, it was Darren who smeared the required gel to ease the way of the sonography wand that Cecile hovered out of the way until her path was clear. “Here we go.”

Lowering the wand so it pressed into the tanned skin below Tytus’ navel, Cecile slowly brought it across to his right hip before back across to his left. She angled it in different directions as it moved, watching the blurry darkness on the screen.

“You might be too low, try a little higher up.” Jamie’s voice cut through into her concentration, but maybe he was right. She moved the wand higher, pressing a little harder and to her horror, Tytus groaned. He tried to move his head but when he couldn’t with being tied down at his neck, he quieted again.

Cecile forced herself to relax and continue with what she was doing as after what seemed like forever, the empty darkness showing on the screen finally revealed something. Located almost right behind his navel, sat the egg pouch of the alpha mer. It looked very much like a uterus on a human female, oval shaped and smaller than she thought it might be. Positioned within, two small circles flagged up as even darker spheres, at this current moment roughly the size of a clementine.

“There they are, he was right the whole time,” Cecile felt she was speaking more to herself in her intrigue than to the rest of the team as she referenced Jamie’s grandfather’s original theories, but excited whispers travelled throughout the room. “It appears there are only two, however.” Further searching proved futile, as Tytus didn’t appear to be hiding any further eggs, he just had the two. But they were perfect and in that moment, Cecile could think of nothing but Elio when he was still a tiny baby yet to hatch.

“Elio’s mother carried four eggs when we found her, did she not?” Someone, Cecile didn’t care to check who, asked in the quiet of the room.

“Yes,” she confirmed before Jamie could say something elaborate. “Considering he’s older than we were expecting, it’s possibly the same with humans and fertility naturally decreases with age.” It was sound logic and for the first time in a while, everyone agreed with her. Cecile made sure to save screenshots of the eggs themselves to examine later, deciding to scan for just a little longer when Tytus moved again. He tensed, particularly in his stomach where the muscles of his abdomen bunched and became taut. He clenched his fists, claws clacking on the metal surface and a couple of the staff moved back in surprise.

“What…are you fuckers doing now?” He groaned, drowsy and all over the place, his words slurred and tired but nonetheless demanding to know what was going on. Cecile looked over at Jamie and he nodded, the go ahead to explain. 

“We are just looking, Tytus, nothing painful I promise.” Tytus obviously didn’t believe her and he forced his entrancing eyes to open. When they found Cecile a little further down his body, he frowned, trying to figure out what she was doing. The fins of his fluke curled upwards for a moment in the same way a human curled their toes.

“If you try to take them, they’ll die,” he whispered, voice hoarse likely from the screeching he did earlier. “They can’t survive like this outside of me.”

“I’m not going to take them,” Cecile got rid of the “we”; she was the one doing this and she wanted, _needed_ Tytus to believe her. “I promise you.” He didn’t look convinced, but he fell silent, instead eyeballing those nearest to him that he could just about see and making them back away a little more. The machine was switched off and Jamie called it day just as Tytus was beginning to rasp, gills working hard to compensate for the wrong thing to breathe. Merfolk could breathe the oxygen in the air, but only for a short period of time. He was also mostly dry by the time they finished too, some of the scales on his tail withering in colour as they began to peel.

Everyone but herself, Darren, Jamie and the four men who had hoisted Tytus out of the tank hurried out of the room to examine the sonography pictures for further analysis. Tytus inhaled deeply, scenting the air and when Jamie turned around from the desk, he had another syringe filled with anaesthesia at the ready.

“Please,” Tytus begged when he saw the needle. “Please, no more of that stuff.”

“You think you have any right to ask me that?” Jamie snapped, bringing the needle closer to Tytus’ neck. “After everything you’ve done, you think you deserve a shred of trust to not try and injure another person here?”

Tytus clenched his jaw, his glare so bold and calm despite the inner turmoil he must have been feeling. “You have tortured me from day one, you slimy prick,” he bit out. “The fact that I haven’t killed more of you yet is a damn miracle.”

It was the wrong thing to say, evidently the fight not yet gone from Tytus until Jamie silenced him once more when the needle was plunged into his neck and the drugs sent him back into unconsciousness. Jamie heaved a dramatic sigh when Tytus was loaded into his container and taken back to the enclosure with Elio. Now it was just herself, Darren and Jamie in the room.

“Dr Marcus Bennett died last night,” Cecile looked at Darren, who looked just as surprised as she did. “His wound was…infected in a way. It wasn’t healing and he lost too much blood. He had three blood transfusions which the doctors now think was actually prolonging his suffering rather than helping.”

“Oh, Marcus.” Cecile felt the air rush from her lungs and her stomach clenched. She didn’t know him particularly well, but he was pleasant enough and worked hard.

“What was he infected with?” Darren spoke up, seldom heard voice gruff in the cold space that was the holding tank room.

“Something we overlooked, and foolishly so. The barbs in that thing’s dorsal fin are venomous, similar to a lionfish but far more potent. The venom is also present in his bite.”

“Damn…” Darren cursed under his breath, but still loud enough to be heard.

“Didn’t you say someone else got bitten during the capture?”

“They did, one of the lab assistants who hadn’t been working with us long,” Jamie ran a hand through his hair. “He lives, but his arm does not. The doctors couldn’t save it as the infection spread.”

“Elio doesn’t have anything like that,” Cecile pondered. “His defence is his speed and agility.”

“Then it must be unique to an alpha mer.” Darren declared.

“Maybe, maybe not. It could simply be unique to him or the region of the Pacific he is from,” Jamie sighed again and shut off his laptop and the other computers. “We’re done here for today.” He left the room with his laptop under his arm as Cecile turned to Darren who began helping her tidy up the last few things. 

“This is going too far,” Darren whispered, wary of the sound capabilities of the cameras in the room. “Someone has died and someone else has lost their arm. Tytus is a dangerous wild mer and not suitable for captivity.”

Cecile looked at him, studying him closely. Was he being serious? Had Jamie put him up to this? Surely not.

“Do you know what he wants to do?” She asked, hyperaware of every move he made in case he was outright lying and playing along. Darren nodded however, looking solemn.

“He wants hatchlings from them, but I don’t know what he plans to do after that. I’m not sure I want to know.”

“I do,” Cecile replied which made Darren look up with a frown. “Not like _that,_ I mean I want to know because I can’t let it happen. I can’t put Elio through that and certainly not any future offspring he may have.”

Darren gently placed his hand on Cecile’s shoulder. “It won’t happen for a while. We have time,” he let go of her shoulder and gently caressed her injured wrist. “How’s this doing?”

“It’s fine, it was just a strain of the muscles rather than the bone, thank goodness.”

“I’m glad,” Darren gave her the tiniest smile in his otherwise neutral face. “I’ll see you around.” He left with that hopeful statement, leaving Cecile by herself as she loitered in the room for a few more minutes while she gathered herself.

Dr Bennett was dead and a lab assistant was missing an arm. What would be next before Jamie realised how dangerous this really was? Underneath everything and despite it all, she could not help but wonder just what sort of abilities the mer would have who called their parents Elio and Tytus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The mentioned Mauna Loa is one of the world's largest volcanoes and is on the island of Hawaii (the actual island, not the state). Thankfully, it's mostly quiet and last erupted in 1984.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elio manages to break the connection barrier with Tytus, forming a tentative friendship. But will it last when Cecile reveals why he is really here?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Mention of parent and sibling death

Elio heard the moment Tytus was returned to his enclosure. It was dark, the underwater lights were off and the sound of him hitting the water and swimming away was much like the first time he had heard him do it. Tytus sounded heavy, he mused, as he was roused from sleep and drifted to the cave entrance to try and see him as he descended. The dark shape that was Tytus sank to his usual spot for all of ten seconds before he rapidly swam to the surface against the wall. Confused by the sudden motion, Elio slowly ventured out and up to the surface.

Tytus had half pulled himself out of the water, leaning heavily on the smooth stone wall that was low enough for him to grab onto as he coughed several times, spitting out saliva and something else onto the concrete below.

“Um…are you alright?” Elio whispered in the relative dark, the only lights being those of the lamps around the outside of the tank.

“Do I look alright?” Tytus huffed, water cascading down his skin and off his sandy hair that lay flush back against his head. He coughed harshly once more, proceeding to vomit everything he had eaten earlier that day.

“Oh, damn,” Elio grimaced at the sight. It had been a long time since he had been so ill, but he did not remember it fondly. “Stay there, I’ll be back in a moment.” He heard Tytus mutter something about obviously not being able to go anywhere, which oddly, made him smile. It seemed Tytus wasn’t sick enough to not be snarky, as usual.

Elio sliced some of the widest bits of kelp he could find with his claws before tearing it into thin strips. When he returned to Tytus, the mer had ceased vomiting but was laying with his face down on the cool stone of the wall.

“Kelp? I’m not really hungry, but thanks.”

“It’s not for eating, just chew on it and spit it out.” Tytus frowned like he didn’t believe him, but Elio just kept his arm extended until Tytus finally reached for it. “The salty flavour will at least take the edge off. It’s always worked for me in the past.”

“Where did you get kelp from?” Tytus nibbled the tiniest bit of the vegetation that he could manage, looking around the mostly empty tank.

“From my cave. There’s a whole bunch of it in there, plus some sea lettuce, some anemones, a colony of oysters. You know, ocean stuff.”

“Yeah…ocean stuff.” Elio could just make out the smallest smirk at the corner of Tytus’ mouth and he relaxed a little.

“So, do you want to talk about what happened? What did they do to you now?” Not for the first time, Elio thought he might not get answer. The last time they had spoken had been an argument which left everything awkward and clunky between them. If he was honest, Elio was tired of it and just wanted to put it behind him. Tytus said nothing for a long while, idly chewing on little pieces of kelp and spitting them out onto the concrete.

“They were looking for my eggs.”

“Your… _eggs?”_

“Yeah, eggs. You know? The things we come from. Please tell me you know about that stuff before I stick my fins out for the line.” Elio wasn’t sure what he meant by that last part, but he shook himself to clear his head.

“Yes, I know about _that._ Why were they looking for those?” 

“No idea. I can only guess they wanted to make sure their new asset wasn’t as barren as the South Pacific Gyre.”

“Did they um…did they find any? Do you have any?” Elio felt himself flush at the ridiculous questions he found himself asking. It didn’t help when Tytus raised a brow at him.

“Yeah, I have some. Why do you ask?”

“I have no idea why I asked that,” Elio chuckled, glad for the darkness yet Tytus see the flush on his cheeks. “I suppose I’m just curious. I can smell you’re not like me.”

Tytus raised his chin a little in understanding of what Elio meant. Although he hadn’t been sure when he had first arrived, the moment Tytus had been released into his space Elio had been able to smell the hormonal differences between them. Elio was like his mother had been, the one who carried the eggs and gave birth to the young; Tytus was on the other end of that. It was, for lack of a better understanding of it, a slightly intimidating thought.

“I smelt you on the way here. I was knocked out for most of it but between me arriving here and being chucked in that tank below deck, I caught a scent on the wind. I had no idea that you were born here though.”

“You said I didn’t smell like one of you.”

Tytus faltered, recalling what he had said to Elio which made him pause. Whether it was the weakened state he was in or something else, he looked guilty. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I haven’t been nice to you and I know none of this is your fault.”

Elio tilted his head, sinking low into the water so it was up to nose to breathe properly. “It’s alright,” he spoke carefully, wondering if Tytus was just trying to please him or he genuinely was sorry. “I suppose I’ve been really annoying as well, asking all these stupid questions.”

“No, you have a right to ask.” Tytus copied Elio’s movement into the water, looking better already with the colour returning to his face. “I guess there’s a whole lot you don’t know that I do, huh?”

“Oh yeah,” Elio smiled. “You have no idea.”

“Ha, I think I do. I was a curious kid once too, you know.” Elio tried to picture what a younger Tytus would have looked like, but he couldn’t fathom it at that moment.

“By the way, what made you sick?”

“Whatever they shot me with, they have been giving to me to make me fall asleep so I don’t know what’s happening at the time. It’s not like normal sleep where you can easily wake either. It doesn’t sit right with me, it’s a human creation a mer was never supposed to encounter.” Tytus looked like he wanted to gag again at the thought of what the substance he was injected with made him feel, so he shoved a bunch of kelp into his mouth and chewed aggressively. The focus it took, the look of concentration on his face, made Elio burst out laughing.

“You’re not supposed to put all of it in your mouth!”

Tytus promptly spat it out, catching the soggy green ball in his hand and throwing it over the side of the tank where it the concrete with a splat. “Yeah you’re right,” he dipped his head under the water, keeping his mouth open to properly wash the last bits of it from his tongue. “I was never much a fan of eating kelp.” Elio caught sight of particularly sharp teeth, his canines visibly serrated which he could see even from the lack of natural light. Then Elio realised why he could see these sorts of tiny details; Tytus had drifted closer, had come right within touching distance.

It was the closest he had ever been to Elio, and it made him want to reach out and caress darker skin than his own, feel the scales and fins that had been touched by the waves and currents of the real Pacific Ocean, not the artificial one he was surrounded with.  
Tytus caught him staring and let a proper smirk grace one side of his face. “This is the longest we have gone without arguing or raising our voices.”

“And isn’t it nice?” Elio teased, which only made Tytus snigger in response, the sound coming from somewhere deep in his chest. Silence followed the sound when Elio said nothing else in response, deciding to study the creased lines around the edges of golden eyes.

“What are you staring at, huh?” Tytus asked him, but his voice held no malice, only the same teasing edge Elio just had moments ago.

“Nothing!” The word burst out his mouth before he could stop it and come up with a better response. “I was um, just wondering how old you were. Another stupid thing I’ve been thinking about.” He let the statement out with the question in it mixed between. Tytus chewed on his lip for a moment, the sharp canine doing nothing to break his skin.

“Forty-eight,” he whispered. “Old, I know.”

Elio didn’t think so. “That’s not old, Cecile is older than that.”

“Lucky her.” Tytus rubbed at his face. “Look kid, I’m beat. I’m going to sleep.”

“Sure…” Elio pushed off from the wall and followed Tytus as he dove beneath the surface, a dramatic flick of his tail flinging water in Elio’s direction. Once again, he didn’t feel any spite in it, just Tytus finally showing what his personality might actually be like.

Elio froze when Tytus continued to head in the direction of his sea cave rather than the usual spot he had taken up underneath one of the lights. He must have felt Elio pause as he turned with that smirk again. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t going to invite myself in. You should see your face though,” he gestured just beneath the entrance to the cave, choosing not to remark how the cave itself was more an elaborate hole in the wall made to look like a cave. “But, I was going to ask if I could sleep there tonight.” He floated, waiting for Elio’s reply.

“Oh, sure! I mean, yeah of course.” Without hesitation, Tytus turned and settled in the space underneath the entrance, bringing his tail up and curling around himself like he always did.

“See you in the morning, Elio.”

“Goodnight, Tytus.” Elio wasn’t quite sure how he felt having him sleep so close. It certainly made his heart beat faster in a strange way like it was trying to break free of his ribs. He shook his head as he settled in amongst the aquatic plants, pulling some of the larger kelp pieces over himself to revel in their smoothness on his skin. After tonight, Elio felt the most hopeful he had so far, knowing that Tytus might not be such an _asshole_ after all.

*******

By the end of the week, the weather had taken a turn for the worst. The first signs were the heavy air, the grey skies in the distance. As the winds picked up, Tytus matched Elio’s behaviour with his lethargy during storms and Cecile watched with interest as they descended to the bottom of the tank together, only coming up when they needed food and conversing quietly for hours on end. For the first time, Cecile felt torn. It made her happy to see Elio happy, yet his desire for her attention dwindled quicker than she thought. He had another of his kind to speak with, to learn from, why would he still need to speak to a human? Cecile chose not to interfere, opting instead to watch the underwater cameras from the control room or lingering in the workspace that had the glass wall to see into the tank. She laughed to herself when she realised what was happening; Elio was moving on and it was Cecile who was being left behind. The bittersweet feeling was turmoil in her chest. The only thing stopping her from feeling like a complete mother hen that couldn’t accept that her child had left the nest, was that watching Elio interact with Tytus was still part of her job.

She checked in with Jamie and the team, keeping everyone updated with any changes she noticed. Jamie was more than pleased that the two mer were finally getting along, whatever backup plan he claimed he didn’t need but Cecile still highly suspected that he did actually have, was no longer required. Yet Elio and Tytus were not romantic; when they were not being conversational, they swam together around the tank side by side, Tytus always slightly below Elio and just behind him. They ate together like two colleagues over lunch; casual and relaxed. Elio would laugh at something Tytus said in a way that Cecile hadn’t seen him do for years. It wasn’t that he had lost his sense of humour as he had gotten older, but the childish mirth he had possessed when he was younger had turned into something far more refined. The transition from child to teenager certainly had not been an easy one.

However, Cecile saw how Elio sometimes looked at Tytus; out the corner of his eye, his gaze lingered. It was a fleeting thing which seldom happened, but it was enough for Cecile to wonder just what would happen when their mating season began, if it would affect Tytus the same way it affected Elio.

Both their hormone levels were rising.

*******

“That’s why you feel the need to swim so much like you do,” Tytus explained while gnawing on the leg of a crab. “Mer swim for miles and miles. I’ve seen some of us make a permanent residence, but most of us are nomadic; we keep moving.”

“Cecile said that you came this way every year.”

“That’s right.” Tytus looked wistful suddenly as Elio reminded him of what he had been doing most of his life prior to coming here.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t meant to bring that up.” Damn his stupid curiosity making it awkward again.

“It’s alright,” Tytus sighed deeply, bubbles erupting from his gills. “It’s a long way to go, but it’s worth the trip. I made it a thing one year and a few others decided to join me.”

“Where were you going?” Elio whispered the question, wondering if Tytus would answer him. It had been almost three weeks since he had arrived and despite the blossoming friendship between them and some of the things he had shared about ocean life in general, he still had yet to explain what he had been doing, where he had been going. Tytus looked around the tank as if looking for something and it took Elio a moment to realise what it might be.

“The cameras have sound, but it’s not great,” he explained. “Cecile told me once that the humans can barely hear us.” Tytus didn’t look entirely convinced as snapped the crab leg in half with ease, spearing the meat one of his claws which he seemed to swallow whole before speaking again.

“It’s called the Coral Sea, probably because there’s an enormous coral reef there which stretches for miles, I’ve never seen anything like it anywhere else. The water is always warm no matter the season and it’s crystal clear.”

“It sounds wonderful,” Elio tried to picture it, something he found difficult when he didn’t even know where to begin. “So, you went there every year just to visit?”

“Well, yeah,” a smirk crept onto his face and his voice lilted at the end. “Mostly to visit, I guess you could say.”

“You _guess?”_

Tytus laughed, a sound that made Elio feel a surge of delight every time he heard it. “Well, we did _other_ stuff, especially after the third year in a row of going there when word got around.”

“Oh…” Elio finally caught up and felt himself flush. “Did you um…have anyone back home? Like, a partner or something?”

Tytus raised a brow but the smirk didn’t leave. “Nah, Pacific mer don’t really do that. I mean, we can if we met the right mer, I’m sure. I have met some bonded pairs, but it’s rare.”

“Why?”

“Why?” he parroted, looking thoughtful. “I don’t really know. It’s always been that way; easy come, easy go, you know?” No, Elio didn’t _know,_ but he could use his imagination for that with surprising ease. “Anyway,” Tytus cleared his throat when Elio said nothing further, too busy trying to make the blush he felt on the back of his neck go away. “I think it’s my turn to ask a few questions about you, don’t you think?”

“You can ask me anything.” Elio replied without thinking about it. Tytus hadn’t asked much at all about Elio’s past. At first, he thought it was because he didn’t care, but now Elio suspected it might have been because he didn’t want to be rude, didn’t want to interrogate him regardless of how he didn’t mind that Elio often did it to him.

“Anything, huh?” He re-positioned his tail around the little rock he sat on in the centre of the tank, moving it so it wrapped around it at a different angle while Elio had his tucked under him on the tank floor while he also picked at a crab shell to get the last bits of juicy meat out. “Alright, tell me this; how did you get here? How did the humans find you?”

“They found my mother first,” Elio began. “She was washed ashore not far from here, sick from an oil spill somewhere in the Pacific and it was slowly poisoning her.” Elio racked his brain for what Cecile had told him. “She was pregnant with me and three others, but we were still in our eggs and yet to hatch. When they found my mother, they tried to save her but when they couldn’t and she died, they tried to save all four us as we were barely alive.”

“Damn,” Tytus spoke quietly. “Humans always seem to have a way to mess with things they shouldn’t, ruining nature when they should leave it alone instead.” Elio couldn’t disagree; without the oil spill harming his mother, she would still be alive and he would have been born in the ocean.

“One by one my siblings died, too weak from the toxins in the oil to continue until there was just me left. I was apparently the eldest, the largest egg. Cecile said she managed to re-create the equivalent of a womb with what they learnt from my mother’s…body.”

Tytus grimaced but he didn’t interrupt, just watched Elio and listened. 

“I know it sounds awful,” Elio said. “But she had already died at this point and desperate to try and save something, Cecile did what she could so at least one life was saved, instead of losing all five. Obviously it worked, and I hatched from my egg just a few days later apparently, though I know we’re not really _born_ until some weeks after that as live young, but still.” Elio sighed, looking down at his hands as he turned the hollowed crab shell over. “Cecile raised me after that. The study of our kind has been taking place for years, but it’s a secret, nearly all of the human population don’t even know we exist. Some of the people at this facility don’t even know we are here as this whole section is separate from the main building where everyone works.”

“How does a human raise a mer?” Tytus asked, head tilted in thought.

“It wasn’t easy, that’s for sure,” Elio chuckled to himself as he recalled the constant barriers in the difference of species between himself and Cecile growing up. “This place was built while I was just a hatchling, I didn’t go into it until I was old and strong enough to swim properly.”

“That’s rubbish,” Tytus suddenly interrupted. “Hatchlings can swim just fine the moment they’re born.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, sure they can. I’ve seen it dozens of times. I mean, they stick super close to their mother for the first couple of months but they don’t have any real trouble swimming. I’ve seen some parents fashion a sling of sorts to carry them around in when they’re tired or sleeping and obviously if they encountered a strong current or a storm they wouldn’t stand a chance, but otherwise they swim around just like adults can.”

“Wow…I had no idea.” Elio pondered.

“Well of course you didn’t, kid. Sounds like the humans didn’t either.”

“I’m a special case,” Elio said dryly. “Raising a mer from a newborn had never been done before, but Cecile and her team did their best. I remember one thing after another coming up between us though. I couldn’t speak their language for the longest time, though I could understand it well enough, but it was like I just couldn’t form the words. Now that I know there’s a whole language that we have, I suppose that was why.”

“Mm,” Tytus hummed to himself, tossing his empty crab shell over his shoulder which sank to the floor. Elio frowned a little at the action; he would be the one to tidy that up later. “I suppose I could teach you a thing or two in the language of the mer.”

“Really? You will?” Elio’s mild irritation as Tytus’ untidiness was quickly replaced by bounding excitement.

“Yeah, I don’t see why not. But it’s the Pacific dialect I speak. There’s a whole bunch of versions out there depending on which ocean a mer comes from.”

“Human languages are the same, too. Cecile speaks a language that sounds the same elsewhere in the world, but is different at the same time.”

“Cecile means a lot to you, huh?” The sudden change of topic made Elio falter when he thought about what he had been asked.

“Yes, she does,” he replied in earnest. “She saved my life and she has always been kind to me. I know she isn’t a replacement for my mother, but she is close to it as I didn’t exactly have anyone else. The other humans here don’t speak to me or treat me like she does. To them, I am an animal that needs studying. To Cecile, I am as close to a son that she will ever get.”

“She doesn’t have anyone close to her here?”

“No, she has spent her whole life studying marine biology, told me that she has spent the last thirty years based here because Dr Averton’s father caught wind of her research and recruited her for the merfolk project.”

“Merfolk _project,”_ Tytus spat. “We are nothing but caged animals to gawk at, Elio. Make no mistake of that.”

Elio said nothing, had learnt not to try and justify or compare his treatment to Tytus’. He was an adult who was as wild and untamed as the ocean he came from and Elio was the literal embodiment of the “caged animals” he spoke of. Thinking he needed to change the subject quickly, he summoned his bravado and asked something he had wanted to know since the humans had apparently looked for his eggs.

“So um…have you had hatchlings before?”

Tytus said nothing for a moment, simply studied Elio with his heavy gaze, the gold of his eyes bright with both the light of the day and with what Elio suspected was amusement.

“Yeah, I have. Somewhere out there, but it’s like I said; easy come, easy go.”

“So, you don’t know how many?”

“It’s not something I’ve been keeping track of exactly.” Tytus chuckled.

“Don’t you like, I don’t know, stick around? Help raise them?”

Tytus sighed. “Didn’t I tell you that isn’t how it’s done in the Pacific?”

“No, you said the bonded pairs thing doesn’t happen often.” Elio corrected.

“Well, I hate to burst any bubble you might have with what humans have told you or what you might have thought yourself, but Pacific mer just take what we can get. We don’t just mate with anyone, we have to match each other in some way, but the instinct that drives us in both alpha and breeder, is to procreate. Breeders often raise young by themselves or in small groups of their type once they have what they want. The ocean is so vast Elio, if you were in the ocean during the mating season and found an alpha you liked, it’s unlikely you would ever see him again.”

“Oh, I see…” That didn’t sound ideal at all, nothing like what Elio had started imagining for himself in a different life with the more he learnt from Tytus every day.

“Hey, it’s not all doom and gloom. It is nature making sure we aren’t going extinct. You take a piece of the alpha you like, their strengths, their personality or even just their looks, and you pass it on to your hatchlings. They’re treated like they are precious jewels, Elio, merfolk hatchlings are our future. It doesn’t matter who sired them, every mer is kind and civil to the breeder and their offspring. I’ve seen it for myself.”

When he added that, Elio supposed it didn’t sound _too_ bad, but still a little primal; spreading your seed as far and wide as it would go.

“What were the bonded pairs like? The ones you met?” 

“I guess they were in love, if that’s what you would call it,” Tytus explained. “They only had eyes for each other once they had found one another, only mated with each other and nobody else. The hatchlings they had together were some of the few of us in the Pacific who would be full siblings.”

“How can you tell if you’ve met a sibling, or a cousin or something?”

“We can tell by scent, of course,” he said as if Elio should have already known that. “Scent tells us everything, prevents the genetics lines from getting crossed.”

Elio hummed thoughtfully. He was still learning about his newfound ability to pick up scents in the water, something that Tytus told him he had always had, but had never needed to utilise. It made a lot of sense, Elio could smell when food was on its way sometimes before it even touched the water and if Cecile ever had the water of his tank touch her skin, he could smell her powdery scent before seeing her physically. It was how she called to him if he was in his cave or otherwise out of sight.

Elio’s conversation with Tytus drifted to different subjects ranging from the other creatures in the ocean that Tytus had encountered to the varying methods of hunting for different things to eat. Life in the ocean sounded _challenging._ Tytus painted a picture that made it sound like life in the wild was difficult because the ocean had no mercy. It was home to so much life, was largely unexplored and went so deep that the light couldn’t get through so all that remained was an impenetrable darkness, yet life still found a way and thrived down there too. On the other hand, it sounded so free and unrestricted. One could go wherever one wanted, whenever they wanted. They could choose what to eat and when, explore every crevice and admire the beauty the ocean had to offer. As much as Elio loved listening to Tytus talk about it, the more he did the more it made his heart ache. There was a hole inside him, tugging at his soul with its swirling emptiness with no way to fill it because he was here in this tank. He could smell the salt on the air, knew the ocean was just out of sight behind the walls and had even been shown photos of it when he mustered the courage to ask Cecile years ago. But photos couldn’t do it justice, and the desire to see it in real life had been growing the moment he and Tytus began speaking like the friends he hoped they had become.

So distracted he became, that a few days later when Cecile sat on the beach of his enclosure, dipping her bare toes into the water, he didn’t notice her for three full circles of the tank before realising she was there.

“Hello, _mon cœur._ I feel like it’s been ages since we’ve spoken.” Cecile had her hair down today, something she didn’t often do. It was mostly a brown so dark it was almost black, but turning grey in stray wisps as if single strands were doing it in turns, one after the other. She looked tired, if the dark circles under her eyes were anything to mention. With her she carried a stack of papers, human jargon that Cecile seemed to live by; charts and graphs and lines going up and down in different colours. “Could you get Tytus? There is something we must talk about.”

“Yeah, sure.” Elio did not like the sound of that, but he did as he was asked. The alpha mer didn’t exactly like Cecile, but upon realising what she meant to Elio, he had stopped being so unpleasant to her face. He _tolerated_ her; that was more the word for it, even letting her take a few blood samples when Elio had convinced him to not put up a fight and it would be over quicker.

Tytus kept back from getting in the shallow end too much, his aversion for water that wasn’t deep was something that Elio would find amusing if Cecile’s grim face wasn’t distracting him.

“What’s wrong?” He asked as she idly flipped through paperwork. She finally set it aside with more force than necessary, the metal clip holding the papers together the only thing from stopping them flying away.

“Ever since we hatched you, Dr Averton has had a plan that he has been working on for a long time, the idea has been in his mind for as long as I’ve been working with him, at least.” Cecile struggled to find further words for a few moments, her toes digging into the sand. “We have been keeping a close eye on the hormone levels in your blood, both of you. This is because April isn’t too far away.” She looked pointedly at Elio and the insinuation was not lost on him; he went into season about the same time each year, in the month humans called April. A flush of colour spread up his neck and over his cheeks at the fact she was talking about this with Tytus _right behind him._

“Yeah, well…I’ll just deal with that in my cave by myself, like I always do.” He muttered, trying not to think about the burning emotion that he felt in that time, something he had learnt was _desire._ It only seemed to last a few days, but Elio could hardly think straight, felt feverish and antsy like he needed to do something but nothing would help. He wasn’t an idiot, he knew it was his body telling him to mate, to breed, telling him he wanted hatchlings and that his body was more than ready for it and…

Elio turned to look over his shoulder at Tytus, who was submerged in the water up to his eyes. He was listening to Cecile speak, ears twitching, but no other emotion gave him away, nothing like the rising panic Elio could feel was beginning to form in his gut. Cecile was still talking, her trilled r’s and elaborate l’s of her accent standing out more than ever as Elio tried to concentrate on what she was saying.

“- unsure if it will affect Tytus in the same way of course, but the scan revealed he does harbour eggs that need to be laid -”

Oh tides above…

“- young and fertile. That feeling you get when you go into heat can only be quelled by an alpha -”

Cecile went on but Elio only heard snippets of it. That was the plan all along. That was why Tytus had been specifically chosen, why he had been captured and not another mer like Elio.

They wanted them to breed, to have hatchlings together.

The mix of emotions Elio felt at that realisation was difficult to place. Firstly, he couldn’t believe it, he had no idea how all of that even worked and how he was supposed to go about it – did he even want to? Secondly, he felt like an idiot for not realising this sooner – how did he not assume as much when they told Elio what Tytus really was? The shock of being told what the facility expected of him quickly twisted into fear of the unknown, which finally turned into anger and bitter resentment. He fixed Cecile with the nastiest glare he could muster; she had known about this all along.

“How could you not tell me this from the beginning?” He snapped. “How could you do that to me? How could you lie to me? You said he was here just to be studied, nothing more.” He could feel tears coming, the back of his nose growing hot and stinging with the iron will it took to not let himself fall like this. It had been a long time since he had cried, even longer since he had done so in front of Cecile and he definitely didn’t want to do it in front of Tytus.

Cecile flinched under the verbal attack, her elegant face contorted with a pained frown as Elio swore he also saw tears in her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak but Elio chose not to listen. He turned sharply, tail purposefully flicking a barrage of water at her as he dove underneath and headed for his cave.

It was Tytus who hesitated, the alpha mer floating in place and watching Cecile as she broke down, the saline water drenching her helped to hide what was tears and what wasn’t.

“His whole life has been a lie,” she whispered. “I did everything I could to protect him from Jamie, but it hasn’t worked.” Tytus frowned at the name before realising who she meant. Against his better judgement, he swum closer with a couple of flicks of his tail.

“If my eggs aren’t laid, they just break down, absorbed back into my body as natural nutrients. You could tell this Jamie that, tell him that they’ve gone.”

Cecile looked up from where she had brought her hands to her face, the initial surprise that Tytus was talking to her quickly fading as she shook her head. “He will want proof. That’s part of science; nothing happens without proof.”

Tytus raised his chin, feeling his claws sink into the sand. “I’m not some lascivious youth, I am considered an elder among my kind. I am not going to do anything to Elio _unless_ he asks me to,” he clarified. “So if he asks me to do nothing then that is exactly what I will do. I will not take advantage of one so pure, so innocent in the ways of our nature.”

Cecile nodded slowly in understanding. “I appreciate that, I really do, but Jamie…Dr Averton, he won’t stop until he gets what he wants. If you don’t do what he says, he will only make your life harder. He will make Elio’s life harder and Elio has gone without anything you have experienced for years. I cannot make him go through that all over again.” Sobs wracked her body and Tytus simply watched. He felt nothing for this human, but he wasn’t so simple that he didn’t understand where she was coming from. She was obviously protective of Elio and had fought to give him as normal a life as possible with all things considered.

But she was still one of them, one of the humans who worked here and were on this Jamie Averton’s team who took great delight in figuring out just what merfolk were all about, consequences be damned.

“So what, you’re going to make him go through the process of conceiving hatchlings in this place? No mer should be born in captivity.”

“I know that, Tytus, I really do,” she affirmed, her eyes meeting his. “But I can promise that it will be easier if you do that together. It’s the lesser of two evils.” Tytus narrowed his eyes, pondering her declaration. He recalled having his scales ripped out, the barbs in his dorsal pulled, tubes pushed down his throat and nose, forced into his gills; all in the same of _science._

He didn’t want to experience that all over again. He would never admit how he felt out loud, but there was no doubting the inner sensation in his gut that was one thing and one thing only; fear.

“I will speak with Elio.” He left no room to respond as he sank below the surface and headed for the sea cave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The mentioned South Pacific Gyre is considered a "desert" of the ocean, devoid of much life due to the accumulation of toxic chemicals, plastics and other debris in the centre of its rotating current.
> 
> The Coral Sea is off the northeast coast of Australia and is where you will find the Great Barrier Reef.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Elio makes a life-changing decision, Cecile aims to secure an ally in the long-run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: None

Elio curled in on himself the way he had seen Tytus do, the stretch of the position pulling at the muscles in his back and making him realise just how flexible Tytus actually was. Once again, he was better at something than Elio. He was better at everything it seemed! He could swim faster, descend and rise quicker, de-shell a crab in record time, catch the live fish twice as fast, he was bigger and stronger and good looking and…

He was everything Elio was not. He was experienced in every which way that Elio could only ever dream of being. The sheltered and captive life he had lived undisturbed for so long had always been a building weight, a pressure like a vice around his throat that cut off his gills from the water. But now, it was crashing down like the great waves known as tsunamis, relentless and unforgiving, destroying everything they touched. The ocean and the creatures in it were a force of nature that humans could never hope to curb, could never hope to truly understand. One of those beings was right here with him in his tank and now he was supposed to act with them in the basest form of nature, to do something like his wild relatives did every year without issue. The thought was nothing short of terrifying.

A scratch of claws on a rock caught his attention and he lifted his face from where it had been buried in his folded arms. Tytus had stopped by the sea cave’s entrance, floating in place and hesitating to enter. He offered a small smile and Elio couldn’t help the adoration that burst in his chest at the sight. He sure did love Tytus’ smile.

“Can I come in?” Tytus had never been inside the cave out of respect for Elio’s space. It wasn’t an overly large area but there was definitely enough room for the two of them. It had Elio wondering if that was another thing that had been planned from the start.

“Sure, come on in.” Tytus did so albeit slowly and gracefully. He was mindful of his head on the rocks above, a shift of his fluke made sure he was at the right level before he entered the space where Elio slept.

“It’s cosy,” Tytus looked around as he settled on the bottom, reaching out to touch the kelp and sea lettuce that grew in it. “It’s nice.”

“Thanks.” Elio replied as he sat up and folded his arms around where his knees would be on a human, resting his cheek on them and staring off into space. Tytus watched him for a moment, his bright gaze washing Elio in a pillar of strength.

“Listen, Elio,” he began. “I told Cecile as much and I’ll tell you the same; I am not going to do anything to you without you saying so first. So you don’t have to worry about that.”

“Surely it’s not that easy though? What happens when you smell a breeder in heat?”

“I won’t lie to you, it’s a smell that fills my every sense. But I am old enough to know how to curb my desire. One of the joys of mating is the intense pleasure it provides, all of it is willingly given between partners.”

That made Elio feel a _tiny_ bit better. “I just feel like my life has been a lie from the very beginning.” Unknowingly, he repeated what Cecile had said and Tytus tensed.

“There is probably nothing I can say that will make this better for you, but I hope you’ve realised that you can talk to me. I know I’m here by force and you didn’t expect me to show up and invade your space either, but you can always talk to me and I will listen.”

The dam broke inside Elio and he could no longer hold off the sorrow that came to claim him. He buried his face in his hands and hunched over, shoulders shaking as he whimpered. “I’ve never even been in it…but I feel the ocean is my home. It calls to me,” he felt a tentative hand on his shoulder at the confession. “I just want to go home.”

“I know, sweet thing. Me too.” Tytus’ arms encompassed Elio, moving into his space and pulling him into an embrace that he felt reach deep into the very core of his being. Of course Tytus wanted to go home, he had been taken from it in the first place. Before he could voice his feelings, Tytus spoke again and washed away his selfish thoughts. “It doesn’t matter that you’ve never seen the ocean, it’s a part of you and you are a part of it.”

“If you have to go, take me with you.” Elio didn’t even know what he was saying, but he said it anyway. Tytus hummed, the sound from his chest travelling into Elio as the alpha mer wrapped his arms around him.

“You can count on that.”

*******

Without him asking, Tytus had decided to stay in the sea cave that night, lying down a few feet away from Elio to try and give him as much space as possible. Exhaustion crept into Elio’s head, making his eyelids heavy with the desire to just go to sleep and hope that this was all a bad dream. Tytus spoke softly as night truly fell, talking more about the ocean and the things he had seen and done. He had been chased by a swordfish when he was younger, realising that he wasn’t safe leaping out the water to get away as the fish could jump just as high. He had squid ink squirted in his face on more than one occasion when he was just beginning to learn how to hunt the flighty cephalopods. The webbing between his fingers of his left hand had once been snipped down to the base by an angry lobster. Although Tytus favoured talking about the dramatic things and possibly slightly painful things he had experienced, he always added lighter things that Elio tried to imagine when he closed his eyes.

He talked of other merfolk and the colourful tails and patterns they possessed, how some of them likened to fish native to the area they lived in so they could better blend in. The dorsal and other fin placement gave hints as to where the mer in question might be from, offering a visual hint along with their scent. It had Elio wondering why his own dorsal fin didn’t begin at the back of his neck like Tytus’ did, why he didn’t have venomous spines as a means of self-defence. Tytus pondered his dorsal could be something more Atlantic based, that perhaps his mother had originally been from there and travelled a long way to meet whoever his father was. The four spines in question had also finally grown back and when Tytus swum, they stood to attention and flattened down when he was relaxing. Elio staring at them as Tytus lay on his front had him revealing that he the same venom they possessed was also in his bite.

It didn’t make Elio feel afraid however. Oddly, it made him feel safer, knowing that Tytus could do some serious damage if he wanted to and had made it clear he would do so again to protect Elio. That knowledge did strange things to his heart; made it beat faster and his stomach tense a little. He had the attention and protection of a powerful alpha mer and it made the innermost and primal parts of him flush with glee.

On the other hand, being so close to Tytus was dangerous, particularly as the days that went by turned into weeks and the mating season got closer. What would happen then? Would he do something embarrassing like beg for Tytus to take him? Would the heat consume him with a greater force now that his body could tell an alpha was near? Elio usually stayed coherent when in season, did his best to ignore the blinding desire that he felt, refused to touch the slit hidden between his scales in the dip between his hips. It was too embarrassing to talk about with Cecile, so there was no way he was going to talk about it with Tytus! Unfortunately for Elio, his curiosity got the better of him once again and he found himself asking questions that he didn’t know the answer to, so turned to the source of knowledge who had slowly become far more open with every passing day.

“What happens to your eggs if they’re not laid?”

“Well, it takes a while, but eventually they are broken down and simply turn back into nutrients for my body.”

“Ew,” Elio laughed. “That sounds…a bit gross.”

“I guess so,” Tytus replied with similar mirth. “It’s hard to describe but they’re not really _alive_ so to speak. I mean, they are but at the same time they’re not. If they’re not laid one year, it’s like my body knows that they’re not needed. It’s quite energy consuming to create them, the same way it is for a breeder to fertilise them, so if an alpha doesn’t lay their eggs for a season then the energy is reclaimed from them. Fair trade, don’t you think?”

Elio nodded, that did sound like nature had set up a good deal there. “So, it’s energy consuming for breeders too?”

“From what I’ve been told, yeah. It’s the same for both of our kinds; making hatchlings takes work.”

“How…how many have you got?” Elio hated how his voice sounded so small, but it was something he had yet to learn and simply had to know, especially if Tytus was supposed to lay them inside him.

“I only have two. I used to make more, like fix or six back in the day but it changes as you get older. Nature’s way of telling you to slow down.”

“You love making yourself sound old, don’t you?” Elio dared to inch close enough to nudge Tytus’ shoulder with his own. The action made the alpha grin at him, a flash of sharp teeth that made a shiver run up Elio’s spine and not in a bad way.

“It’s a pastime of mine,” Tytus raised his chin. “I think I’m getting quite good at it.”

“Yeah well, you don’t seem old to me.” Elio looked down at his hands to concentrate on something else lest he start blushing again.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Tytus asked when he caught the solemn look Elio had felt his face take on. He looked up at the alpha, saw the concern on his handsome features.

“I guess I’m…afraid,” he whispered. “I’m afraid of the future in a way I never have been before. I fear for something I didn’t even know I could worry about.”

Tytus didn’t say anything, just listened quietly.

“I worry what I will do when I go into heat and you’re right there and I…I…” Elio pushed out a frustrated sigh.

“Elio, before I came here, what did you envision your future to be? What did it look like?”

Elio thought about it, realised that it sounded pretty pathetic and although he didn’t exactly want to share, it’s not like he couldn’t embarrass himself any further than he already had.

“At first, I thought I might eventually leave this place. I know that sounds ridiculous, but when I was told what the ocean was and how there was an entire world outside of this tank, I wondered to myself if the humans here would eventually take me back. I thought they would reach a point where they had learnt all there was about mer, so they would let me go.” He hung his head, suddenly feeling like crying. “When I realised that wasn’t the case, that whole world that I could smell just out of reach began to fade away. It took a long time, but I resigned myself to the fact that I would be here forever. So in answer to your question, this” Elio gestured around the tank. “This is my future, your future and now it’s the future of the hatchlings we’re supposed to create.”

“Elio, you have to stop thinking like that. It’s not healthy.”

“How am I supposed to think then? Why are we here?” Elio wasn’t sure where he was going with this, knew that Tytus wouldn’t be able to answer as to why they were both here apart from the painfully obvious; they were here for the humans to study.

Tytus reached out then, took one of Elio’s hands into his own. Apart from the embrace they had shared several nights ago now, Tytus had kept his distance like he always did, making this only the second time they had properly touched. Tytus’ hand was bigger than Elio’s and the action quieted him as he admired the contrast in their skin tones of pale and sun-kissed. It felt _good_ to have Tytus’ skin touch his, it felt good to be comforted. He must have made some small noise in his throat as Tytus shifted closer still.

“How is it we have switched our mind-sets, hmm? Why is it that I have hope I will leave this place, and you no longer do?”

“I don’t know,” Elio replied. “I suppose you being here has simply rekindled old memories and childish ideologies.” When Elio looked up, Tytus was _right there._ He was so close that Elio could feel the warmth from his body. Recently, he had always been close but still within a fair enough distance to give Elio his space.

Maybe he didn’t want any space, maybe he just wanted _more._ “Come to the cave with me.” He ordered gently, turning tail and not waiting to see if Tytus followed. He knew the alpha would so he hastened his pace to reach there with a few seconds to really think about what he wanted to say. The main area of the tank felt too open and even though he knew there was still a camera in the cave, it was a smaller space, his space.

Tytus entered without rapping his claws on the rocks, choosing to enter quietly and sit himself amongst the kelp that naturally seemed to bend around him. He waited for Elio to speak, head tilted slightly and the smallest of smiles on his face.

But Elio didn’t know what to say, so he closed his eyes for a few seconds and tried listening to what his body wanted. The first thing it wanted to do was get closer, so he did just that. Paying attention to his instincts like this was something Elio had very little experience in, but he let them guide him anyway. It felt…right. It felt natural.

Elio reached out and let his fingertips rest on Tytus’ shoulder, down his left arm and over the thin scars that marred his skin.

“A fishing net,” his voice was just above a whisper. “I was young and stupid and I caught my arm in it, panicked when it wouldn’t come loose and wound it further around myself.”

“How did you get free?”

“One of the elders in the group I travelled with at the time carried a human object, a blade. They cut me free.”

Elio ran his fingers back up, over Tytus’ collarbone and across to the other arm. There were smaller marks here, little white lines of aged scars and some more recent pinkish ones. Each of them had a story behind it and as Elio mapped his way across Tytus’ skin, he decided he would never get tired of the way it felt under his touch. The scales of his tail were a little rougher than Elio’s own, a little wider in their shape. But they were just as beautiful as the rest of him, held a shine that Elio was sure no gem could hope to match, held the strength of several humans.

Tytus caught his chin, making him look up into eyes of gold like the sunset.

“What do you want, Elio?” Tytus asked softly, moving his thumb so it touch Elio’s bottom lip.

Elio swallowed hard as he felt his heartbeat double. The familiar sensation of a blush creeping up his neck for once did not deter him. He didn’t try to hide it. “I want to touch you while the heat doesn’t have me and I can enjoy it properly.”

“What else?” Tytus was still smiling, looking slightly amused but not in an offensive way to Elio.

“I want you to touch me.” The admission made him sure his cheeks had gone so red they would never change back, but he didn’t falter. Elio liked Tytus, he liked him a lot. Situation be damned, he wouldn’t be asking the other mer this if he didn’t feel sure it was what he wanted; he just hoped it was what Tytus wanted too.

“Where?” The alpha whispered, his thumb moving from Elio’s lip to caress his cheek, his big hand cupping the side of his head.

“Anywhere you want.”

“You’re bold kid, I’ll give you that.” With that said, Tytus moved so close to Elio that he became blurry in his field of his vision. Warm and surprisingly soft lips pressed against his own, made a burst of bubbles rush from his gills. Tytus had closed his eyes and it felt natural for Elio to do the same. _Listen to your instincts,_ he told himself. _Do what feels right._

He had never been kissed before and it showed, but Tytus didn’t stop to tease him. He kept the pace of it slow, made sure Elio figured out what to do at one moment before changing it the next. Elio was swept along like he had been caught in a current. His stomach was doing that strange thing like it was trying to do a flip inside him and his heart was beating so rapidly he was sure Tytus might actually be able to hear it. He was certain it stuttered in its pace when Tytus’ tongue pressed against his own, seeking entry to his mouth. When he granted it, Elio let the tiniest moan slip free against his will, but it felt _so good._ He pressed himself to that pillar of strength that was the alpha mer who had been captured just for him. Strong hands held him, one now at the back of his head and the other on his hip, thumbing over the bone.

Tytus tasted different from the salt water surrounding them and with a little gasp as they broke the kiss, he realised that was what the ocean must taste like. If Tytus’ mouth was the only way he would be getting a flavour of the Pacific, then he was more than fine with that.

“Not too bad for your first time,” Tytus smirked as he rested his forehead against Elio’s who jabbed him in the shoulder in jest. “Gonna need more practice though.”

Elio grinned, feeling somewhat giddy as he ran his hands over the muscles that made up Tytus’ chest. “That sounds good to me.”

*******

“It’s about damn time, that’s for sure.” Jamie paced up and down along the huge windows that made up one wall of his office. “For a moment, I was actually starting to think they would never get close.”

“Well, they have.” Cecile sat at the desk, one leg crossed over the other as she stared off into space. There was a mug of coffee in her hands that had long since gone too cold to drink.

“What’s the matter, Cecile?” Jamie ceased his pacing to pause opposite her. “Your little pseudo-son hasn’t been talking to you, has he?”

“No, not exactly.” He wasn’t wrong, ever since she had revealed to Elio what was expected of him, he had developed a bitter resentment for her that made her want to yell in frustration. There didn’t seem to be anything that she could say at this point to make things better. Oddly, it had been Tytus who she had spoken with the most as of late, the alpha mer was the one who now came to the surface when she entered the area that made up their enclosure. She felt foolish for thinking Elio would be okay with this and now it seemed likely he would never speak to her again. Pathetic as it was, but he was the only other person she could talk to. Having that ripped away, seeing that look of disbelief and such anger on his otherwise placid face, was something Cecile would be seeing behind her closed eyelids for the rest of her life.

She hated herself for this. But more than that, she hated Jamie for this. She had come to hate everything he stood for.

“In any case, they have had more than enough time to bond properly. Elio goes into season in just a few weeks’ time and I expect results. Keeping this place and the research going isn’t cheap.”

“I can imagine.” Cecile didn’t know the detailed costs required and how much Jamie received to keep his precious facility going, but she knew the equipment they used had a hefty price tag, as did the maintaining of Elio and Tytus’ tank.

“You need to get Elio talking to you again. He isn’t a child anymore, despite how much he is acting like one and this little grudge he’s holding against you is only going to make things difficult in the long run. Who else is he going to let conduct further blood tests and ultrasounds when he has conceived?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll speak with him.” Cecile didn’t want to be spoken down to anymore, and her declaration silenced Jamie enough for her to leave his office and head down to the underwater viewing room. It had been turned into an office over the years and was the place where she had taught Elio some of the basic sign language they used to communicate before he could speak. It was the easiest place to watch him swim and grow from a child into an adult, the best view to see how elegant he was through the water. A small part of her had always felt a little guilty for watching him like he was an animal in a zoo and the feeling had only increased since she had watched him kiss Tytus tentatively, before it had gotten only slightly more heated.

Everyone here called it _observation,_ but Cecile felt it to be vulgar, bordering on voyeuristic. She said nothing as she mulled over how to get Elio to talk to her when as she passed by the huge glass that looked straight into the tank, she spotted him making his way over to it.

Deep green scales like the purest of emeralds, streaked with the same cerulean tint that the South Pacific held glittered back at her in the sunlight that permeated the water. He was so beautiful, Cecile would never get tired of appreciating just how much more physically impressive the merfolk were in comparison to humans. She could see that Elio looked healthy, his eyes bright and skin practically glowing, hormones beginning to work in overtime to make him appear even more flawless. As Elio came of age and began to do this every year, Cecile suspected it had something to do with attracting a mate if he was in the ocean.

Elio’s eyes met hers and he paused by the glass, floating in place vertically. Cecile felt her heart clench with adoration for him; perhaps if she had chosen a different path in life and studied something else that wasn’t marine biology, she would have met someone, had her own son or daughter whom she could love the same way she loved Elio. But he was the closest thing she was going to get and she needed to make things right. Forming the required symbol with her right hand, she raised it up and centred it in the middle of her chest and moved it in a slow and small clockwise circle.

The sign language for; _I’m sorry._

Elio blinked slowly at her, several seconds passing before he gestured to the surface. Relief coursing through her that he wanted to talk, Cecile quickly made her way up.

Elio was already perched on the beach area, sitting in the sand and leaning back on his hands. His eyes were closed and head tilted to soak in the sun in its pleasant warmth. A pointed ear twitched as she approached and he didn’t open his eyes as he spoke.

“Tytus said I should make amends,” he deadpanned. “I was surprised that he even cared, but apparently he does.”

“Then I’m grateful to him for convincing you to at least consider it.”

Elio opened his eyes and looked at Cecile, a slight frown adorning his face. “I know you have a job to do, but I thought we didn’t lie to each other.”

“I don’t know what else I can say to explain how sorry I am, Elio.” She whispered, eyes downcast as she sat beside him, the tepid water soaking into her trousers and lab coat.

“Why was it different this time? What did Dr Averton do to make you not be honest with me?”

“It wasn’t what he did say, it’s what he didn’t,” Cecile explained. “He could send me away from here at a moment’s notice and I wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. If that happened, I would never see you again. The only reason nothing like what Tytus has experienced has happened to you, is because of me.” Elio studied her, features softening. “You don’t owe me anything, that isn’t what I’m trying to say,” she added when he stayed silent. “I’m just saying that I don’t think I could live with the knowledge that you were here and Dr Averton could do what he liked with you.”

“I understand,” Elio nodded slightly. “Cecile, are you afraid of him?”

The question made her falter, was she afraid of Jamie? Perhaps not physically, he wasn’t contained strength and muscle like Tytus was, but he could twist words and make dark promises that were in reality threats thinly veiled. He had money behind him, not just from his family name but also from the sponsors who fed him and the pot he sat on, keeping to themselves and having Jamie’s research satiate their interests in merfolk.

“I suppose I am,” she said at last. “He isn’t his father. Frank Averton was a kind man, as even his father was before him I did hear, and he taught me a lot. He was the one who found me after all and by bringing me here, it led to me meeting you.”

Elio sat up, washing the sand from the webbing of his hands and claws in the tiny waves that washed along the makeshift shore. He let out a heavy sigh, a long and drawn out sound.

“We’re going to do it,” Elio almost whispered. “Tides, it was one of the most awkward conversations I’ve ever had in my life, but we talked about it. I know the basics of how all… _that_ works from you and the studies here because of how you found me but…Tytus knows far more because of his first-hand experience.”

For a moment, Cecile wasn’t sure how she felt about that. A strange mix of emotions fought for dominance inside her, swirling around each other as they tried to figure out which one she should be feeling. Cecile could feel the excitement buzzing under her skin at the thought of two baby mer. Elio had been the most adorable thing, chubby arms and rosy cheeks. His tail hadn’t been curled and useless like human baby legs were, it had been at least the length of his entire body the moment he hatched and was developed enough for him to swim straight away, regardless of what the other biologists thought. Cecile remembered how Jamie had been much younger then too, still somehow had a way of ruining her good moods and darkening the day.

“I still don’t know what he ultimately wants from you both. Four of you can’t live in this place, it’s not big enough.”

“Yes, I know,” Elio replied solemnly. “But what choice do we have? Tytus will likely be tortured for the rest of his days if we don’t do this, the same fate is probably in store for me too. We talked for a long time about this, there has to be something we can do to get Dr Averton to move us someplace else.”

“You seriously want me to try to negotiate with him on this? I’m not sure that’s going to work.”

“I didn’t say you would be doing that, I will,” Elio pointed to himself. “It’s not me he has made direct threats to, it’s Tytus, so if he wants me to just roll over like a dog humans keep, then he can damn well listen to what _I_ have to say for once in his life.” 

At that moment, Cecile felt so proud of Elio. His shy nature that he had held onto for much of his life had evolved into the confidence he had now and it seemed Tytus was only adding to it, was finally bringing Elio out of the shell he had kept around himself.

Cecile thought about what Elio wanted; more space for his mate and offspring. It probably wouldn’t make a dent in the funds Jamie had available, but the question remained as to where this would be built. The current tank was in no position to be extended, lest it be seen by those who should not be seeing it. 

“Please Elio, let me talk to him first. As much as he is proud of his feat of capturing Tytus, I know for sure he despises him. Going into a bigger tank would be something beneficial and I just feel that Dr Averton wouldn’t do that, regardless if it benefits you and any hatchlings too.”

Elio looked thoughtful, chewed on his bottom lip. “Isn’t it worth a shot though?” He asked. “I will try every avenue to make my children safer for the captive lives ahead of them.”

The sad hope in that statement made Cecile’s heart ache. She reached out, placed a hand on Elio’s shoulder and to her delight, he leant into the touch and covered her hand with his own.

“Then I will try everything also.” An idea came to her then, something she hadn’t been thinking of while she was busy feeling sorry for herself. “Do you know Dr Darren Kinsworth? The tall man who is mostly silent and has almost white hair? You’ve seen him around every so often.”

“Yeah, I know of him. Why?”

“He…said something to me a few weeks’ ago now, while we were doing the scans for the eggs in Tytus. He said how this was going too far and he also has no idea what Dr Averton will do with any hatchlings. We haven’t spoken much since, but I don’t know, I feel like maybe he can help us? He didn’t agree with capturing Tytus…” Cecile trailed off, looking around the enclosure.

“We can’t do anything until after the hatchlings are here, can we? Anything we do will be too suspicious.”

He was right, of course he was, Elio had likely had this conversation with Tytus already and she just couldn’t decipher the words they were saying with how the underwater cameras lacked decent sound detection.

“Shelve the idea of talking to Dr Averton; let me speak with Darren, okay? I’ll figure out if I can trust him and I _promise,_ there will be no more secrets between us. I’m on your side.”

“I know you are, Cecile,” Elio nudged her shoulder. “I’m sorry for making you doubt otherwise.”

“Don’t be sorry, _mon cœur._ You have nothing to be sorry for.” She ruffled his wet hair affectionately and Elio practically purred.

Cecile left him to Tytus’ company after that, feeling mountains better than when she had first gone down to see him. Elio was right, there wasn’t a huge amount they could do until Jamie had what he wanted, yet again. Cecile fought not to grind her teeth, making a promise to herself that Jamie’s streak of getting his way would eventually come to an end.

Heading back through the main building and to the top floor where her office was located, she walked right past the door and headed in the direction of Darren’s instead. She knocked twice, waited for what felt like a little bit too long before she heard footsteps inside. Seconds later, Darren opened the door.

“Hey,” she spoke quietly; Jamie’s office was at the end of the corridor and although his door was shut, at this point she felt like she couldn’t be too careful. “Are you doing anything tonight?”

Darren almost smiled, caught himself before the expression truly crossed his face. “Free as a bird.”

“Good. Come to my apartment at eight o’clock?”

“No dinner and drinks first?” He teased, making Cecile reach out to whack his shoulder and bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. As much as she appreciated some banter between them, now wasn’t the time.

“We need to talk.” She fixed him with a glare that hoped conveyed the message she was trying to get across. Darren was a smart man, comprehension steeling his face and he nodded.

“Yes, we do,” he replied. “See you then.” He closed the door and Cecile headed back to her own office, pausing by the window that overlooked the eastern side of Moloka’i Island.

The ocean was right there…


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elio and Tytus take another step forwards. Cecile confirms what she must do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Brief but consensual somnophilia
> 
> Mmm, the slow sweet descent into explicit territory, how I love thee so. This chapter is a lot shorter but worked better to split it between this and the next one.

Elio should have expected his dreams to start getting, for lack of a better word; interesting. It happened every year about the same time as his body began preparing itself for the possibility of mating. Despite how much he would tell himself in past years that no such thing would be happening, his body of course wouldn’t listen and his dreams would change from ones of the sea, to ones of a more debauched nature. In a powerful blast, arousal swept through his blood when he fell into a deep sleep, when his subconscious came to take him and conjure his desires in an almost physical form. The merman in question had usually been faceless, as Elio had no comparison, and they would do things to Elio that made his entire body blush when he woke up. But now, it was different as Tytus was here. Now, his dreams were of his real companion instead, kissing his way down to Elio’s chest, his tongue swirling around each nipple before travelling further still to the slit hidden between emerald scales. Of course Tytus knew where it was. Of course the merman seemed to know exactly how to coax forward the slick that would help ease the way for something bigger than his fingers. Elio had of course never seen what a real alpha’s cock looked like, but he knew they must be big in order to reach the deepest parts of him, to make him scream in delight.

He knew he was asleep, but it felt so real that he didn’t want it to end. He was _so close,_ Tytus was moving just right, was saying something about how the first egg was making its way from him to Elio and how perfect Elio felt around his cock and…

Elio gasped awake. For a disorienting moment, he was sure he had actually orgasmed in his sleep as pleasure alighted his veins and made him clench hard around nothing. His inner walls were pulsing and quivering in what appeared to be little aftershocks, each one making him see tiny flashes behind closed eyelids.

A muffled groan sounded next to him and Elio turned to see Tytus still sleeping soundly at his back, one arm around his middle which had pulled them chest to back in the night. Somehow, the alpha hadn’t woken up at Elio’s pleasured gasp but the realisation that he had been having a sex dream about the gorgeous merman behind him when he was _right there,_ was still nothing short of incredibly embarrassing. He flushed so hard he felt light headed and for one horrifying moment, he caught the barest hint of his own arousal, the slick in his folds releasing into the water and the small space of the cave. Oh tides, if Tytus woke up now he would surely catch the scent or even worse; the scent itself would wake him up.

Not quite ready to have that awkward conversation, he took a hold of Tytus’ wrist from his middle and tried to move his arm, but it had the opposite effect. Tytus’ arm tensed and when Elio tried again, he tensed further. He was strong, far stronger than Elio was and he was about to try and shimmy down to try and get out of the embrace that way when he heard his name mumbled in the space between his shoulder blades. Tytus’ hand moved down from around his chest to his stomach and stayed there, fingers splayed wide enough that they encompassed Elio’s entire width of his midsection.

He froze, initially unsure of what to do until his body decided for him. The wetness he felt in his folds made itself known again and he groaned without realising he had made the sound, tipping his head back to push again Tytus’. The alpha’s hand trailed lower, claws lightly marking the delicate skin and creating delightful friction over his scales as he stopped between the dipped V of his hips. A quick glance over his shoulder confirmed he was still totally asleep and a thrill he hadn’t expected to feel tore through Elio.

Tytus was dreaming about him too.

His claws merely graced the edges of his slit, it would require much more pressure in order for it to start parting but even though his heart was racing with a type of excited nervousness that he hadn’t felt before, Elio carefully shifted onto his back in order to allow Tytus better access. In response, he said his name again, the sound of it now against Elio’s shoulder and it made him bite his lip to keep from making a similar noise. He had never felt this way, had never felt so turned on and anxious at the same time. It was a bizarre mix of feelings that Elio felt he could probably get used to if he got him off, despite Tytus not being awake for it.

He thought so too soon it seemed, as the sleep that held the alpha was broken the moment his finger made to push inside the wet hole he was feeling up, the resistance it inadvertently held had him jolting awake. Tytus sat bolt upright in a flash, snapping his hand back like he had been burned by something.

“Oh fuck,” he looked like he wanted to bolt from the cave which might be an easy thing for him to achieve when he was the one closest to the exit. “I’m so sorry, Elio. Are you alright? Shit, fuck. I’ve _never_ done that before! What in the seven seas was I thinking? I’m a fucking idiot, I swear. I’m like some horny teenager who can’t control themselves-”

He was babbling nonsense, talking more to himself and Elio would have let him continue if he didn’t feel sorry for Tytus. He let the laughter building in his chest burst forth.

“It’s fine, Tytus,” he waved his hand as he dismissed the alpha’s claims that he was an idiot and a horny teenager and whatever else he had decided to call himself. “I wasn’t pushing you off and you didn’t hurt me. I was actually rather um…enjoying it?”

“You _were?”_

“Yeah, it felt great.” That was not the word he wanted to use, but anything else was sure to sound ridiculous so he stuck with it. Tytus didn’t look entirely convinced, so he elaborated and ignored the blush that was definitely coming back. “I was having a really good dream, if you know what I mean? I woke up and it sounded like you were doing the same and then you just sort of…” he waved his hand in the general direction of his body. “To be honest, it felt more like I was taking advantage of you, not the other way around.”

Tytus finally smirked and drifted closer, one hand coming to cup Elio’s face as he pressed a kiss to his forehead. “You know, we must be pretty well matched to have that happen.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I wouldn’t call it the usual sign that an alpha and breeder are compatible but I am personally going to add it to the list.” Elio was about to respond when Tytus kissed him. It was a long kiss, slow and deep and it had the tingling excitement in his nether region return in a flash. Even though he expected Tytus’ reaction, he still found it embarrassing as the other mer broke the kiss and inhaled deeply. “You smell _divine,_ ” he whispered. “What a way to wake up.”

“What…” Elio swallowed hard through the quickly returning arousal. “What do I smell like? I can’t control it.” He sighed as Tytus kissed down his neck, just like he had done so in his dream.

Tytus seemed to think about it for a moment, pausing in his kisses while he breathed in slowly, seemingly to take more of Elio’s scent into him.

“It’s almost _sweet,_ it’s hard to describe. I’ve never smelt anything quite like it.” Tytus moved back in to kiss his neck before gracing his collarbone. He could feel his tongue follow the bone from one side to the other and it gave Elio such a vulgar idea, he wondered where it had even come from. Moreover, he wondered if Tytus had done or would even do such a thing.

“You can taste it more, if you want.” Elio didn’t know how else to word it, so he flicked his eyes downwards for a moment, hoping Tytus would get the hint. Thankfully, he did.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.” Elio was, even if he didn’t seem so on the outside, he most definitely was on the inside. “I’ve obviously never done anything with anyone, so I don’t know what to expect but I just…I just _need_ you to touch me. I want to experience what I do in my dreams.” He looked down and away from those searing golden eyes that had watched him as he spoke. Tytus smiled at him, running a hand through his hair.

“Lie back,” Tytus assisted Elio in moving onto his back and when he rested against soft kelp and smooth sea lettuce, Tytus fixed him with a steady look. “If you don’t like it and you want me to stop, say so. Don’t do this just for me, this is about both of us.”

Elio nodded, his heart swelling in his chest at just how kind and caring Tytus had revealed himself to be. The haughty arrogance and occasional moodiness was still there, but it had been mostly buried under the personality that Elio believed he had while he was back in the wild. He tried to steady his breathing, only to have it hitch when Tytus kissed down his chest. He didn’t go for his nipples like he had done so in the dream, so Elio made a mental note to ask for that another time – _another time._ Yes, he realised, there were likely to be many more times like this, of moments of the deepest intimacy.

Tytus’ tongue was smooth and hot as he made his way down Elio’s body. Around his waist was where pale skin turned into emerald scales, the blue highlights in between them barely noticeable in the relative darkness of the cave for how early in the morning it was. A claw circled the area where his slit was located and he hissed at the touch, hips rising the chase the sensation. Elio was sure he heard a chuckle and something about being eager but he didn’t care, he needed to get off and he needed to do so now. He was about to voice this concern when Tytus blew a gentle gust of water over his hole, the water warm from being absorbed in and then back out of his body. Elio sighed in pleasure, felt one hand come to hold a hip and the other boldly spread his slit apart, finding it easy to do so as the scales parted like an oyster to reveal their pearl within.

The next moment, he was being kissed in his most intimate of places and Elio had to cover his mouth lest he scream. It felt far better than his dreams could conjure up, again having no comparison, so he gulped down his voice just before the moan could get any louder. It was early in the day and it was likely nobody was around to hear but in that moment, Elio really didn’t care if there was. Tytus kissed him harder, the grip his fingers held around the sides of his slit loosening so he could focus more on pushing them apart with his mouth. His tongue sank in, not long enough to get to the deeper parts of Elio but it was enough that Tytus swirled his tongue around like he would when licking a lobster shell clean, making sure to get every last bit. He hummed in satisfaction as he did so, obviously having Elio’s heady scent consume him in the same way Elio felt like Tytus was doing the same to him. He pushed his hips up into the alpha’s mouth which made him bury his face harder into his pelvis.

Elio covered his mouth with one hand, stifling a particularly loud moan that only half broke free before he caught it again. One thing was for sure, he needed to learn how to control his volume. Tytus didn’t seem to mind however, he seemed intent on pushing more of these sounds from Elio with each passing moment. He worked his lips and tongue like he did when he kissed Elio on the mouth, long languid pushes of his tongue that rolled upwards, lips sucking delicately into over-sensitive flesh. Elio could feel that heat building, it was a fire in his belly that clamoured and sought an exit. He reached down and wound his fingers into Tytus’ hair, his own claws scratching into the scalp and making the mer grunt in approval.

“Tytus,” Elio gasped, “I can’t…I need to, ahh-” he knew that Tytus understood as he doubled his efforts, sucking and licking and nosing into his groin with as much vigour as he could muster until the building wave within Elio crashed over, drew him into ecstasy like a riptide and the scream he had been trying so hard to hold in pushed his way out of his mouth as he rode his orgasm. Blood flushed to his face, making his head feel heavy like he might actually pass out. It didn’t lessen when Tytus didn’t stop his ministrations, only slow his movements as he matched Elio’s comedown. He finally ceased when Elio could take no more, overstimulated and drowsy from his orgasmic high that he lightly pushed at Tytus’ head until the alpha moved. The hand that Elio had been covering his mouth with ran through his hair and he moved his entire arm to cover his eyes. He felt Tytus slide up his body, placing kisses as he went until his arm was nudged out of the way by the other mer’s head.

“You okay?” Tytus asked, also flushed in the face but looking pleased with both himself and Elio’s reaction. Elio could only nod, feeling a loopy grin on his face as he regarded the alpha in front of him.

“Don’t you want to, you know, have one too?” He wasn’t sure how he could do such a thing for Tytus with the exception of mating together, something he wanted to save for when he was in full heat.

“Nah, it’s alright. I can wait a little longer for the right moment. It’ll be worth it, I’m sure.”

“How do you know?” Elio sighed as he closed his eyes, trying to imagine what his life would look like in several months’ time with two hatchlings to care for. His empty womb clenched at the idea.

“I just do,” Tytus kissed his cheek. “It’s early, let’s go back to sleep for a bit.” That sounded like an excellent idea. Elio rolled onto his side to face Tytus as the other mer got comfortable. Pulling some larger pieces of kelp around them like a blanket, Elio snuggled into the warmth of Tytus’ chest, surrounded by his arms in an embrace that made him feel like he was out in the Pacific with him, the sea cave of the tank a safely guarded nest while they waited for the mating season to claim them in full.

Elio bit his lip and closed his eyes with the realisation that even though none of this had been planned from their side, he was falling hard for the merman with bronze scales and golden fins, for the alpha who carried the scent of the ocean with him even though he was far from home.

*******

Cecile had made a decision. She wasn’t exactly sure _how_ to carry said decision out, but she knew _what_ she had to do. As she stood in her kitchen, sipping at a glass of red wine and looking over reports and graphs of coloured lines and numbers, was reminded of when she had made the decision to study marine biology. She had left her home of Québec on the eastern side of Canada and stepped off the plane in Calgary, the best part of a seven hour flight to the west. Her whole life had been ahead of her, laid out before her like a blank piece of paper and only she could start writing the next chapters of it. She remembered making the monumental decision to travel across the country alone, where the English she had learnt in school would be the new everyday language she would have to speak, a daunting task at the time. She remembered how it felt to receive the acceptance letter to Calgary’s top university for marine biology, how proud her parents had been and how afraid but excited she had felt. Cecile reminisced exactly how she had felt when she had first stood in her empty dorm, waiting to be made into a home for the next few years and sipping straight from the bottle of red wine she had snuck into one of her suitcases for the lack of any glasses at the time.

Now, the decision she made brought odd euphoria with it much like that of deciding what she wanted to do for the rest of her life, the same feeling that she felt when she stood in her university dorm, reignited itself in her chest and Cecile held fast onto it. She had spoken with Darren and felt better than she had in a long time. She had decided that they as a team somehow, would release Elio and Tytus into the ocean that surrounded Moloka’i. The idea had been so simple to agree upon, so straightforward to picture them swimming free together with their offspring in the way they were always meant to do. The next problem she and Darren encountered was the _how._

Their enclosure was surrounded by walls, the drop too far on the other side for them to safely hoist them over it and the water was too shallow to land safely into from that height. They couldn’t literally walk out the front door as it was constantly watched, as was the rest of the facility so a power outage would be required to make everything pause. But how long would that work? If it even would? The apartments where the staff who were based here lived on the western side of the facility in an L-shaped building of sleek and contemporary design. It largely matched the rest of construction, Jamie’s austere taste showing through when his father was having the place built when Jamie was still very young. Even at such a young age he managed to influence his father’s decisions, or maybe Frank Averton had straight up asked his son to help him come up with a design to feel included, Cecile would never know. Jamie was an only child and they were easily spoilt.

Darren had mentioned that the container they had been using to move Tytus from one place to another was large enough to fit two adult mer in, so adding two little hatchling into the mix wouldn’t be a problem space-wise, it just begged the question as to how they would leave without anyone noticing they were gone until it was too late. Jamie would instantly know it was Cecile who had done it, her pity and love for Elio driving her to help him escape. What would he do? She was ready to be fired, that much was easy to accept because she had all the evidence she needed to take Jamie to court and then some. Unless, he did something to stop her from going to the authorities in the first place?

Darren had a laptop that he didn’t use for work. There was hardly anything on it and he used a separate internet source that he managed monthly so he wouldn’t have to use the one the company provided. He was even more paranoid that Cecile was in that aspect, convinced that Jamie had access to the company one so he could see what everyone was looking up in their spare time. Cecile had no idea if that was the case, if Jamie was even that tech savvy when it came to anything outside of using computers for scientific purposes, but on the other hand it would be easy enough for him to simply hire someone to monitor what Darren thought he was monitoring in his place. Therefore, Darren kept this laptop and the little external dongle he used for the Wi-Fi to talk to his family and friends on the mainland completely separate from his work equipment. Jamie had no idea he owned it.

It was perfect and extremely risky at the same time, but what other choice did they have?


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elio goes into heat...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Never fear, mer sex is here! ;D

Things had definitely changed between them in the following days after their moment of intimacy. Elio didn’t know how to describe it, but it was like he could feel Tytus’ presence before he physically saw the alpha. Tytus was carefully affectionate with him and it was obvious he was fighting his internal desires to take Elio right then and there at every given opportunity. His kisses were deep and just when they bordered on too heated, Tytus would catch himself and apologise with a little smile. It made Elio laugh at the irony; he was feeling the same.

The full swing of the mating season was hardly more than a week away and had interesting effects on Tytus. Whereas Elio liked to stay in one place and nap in his cave, body wanting all the rest it could get before whatever exertion came with mating, Tytus was the opposite. The mer was restless and fidgety, irritated by the smallest things and seemed to do the equivalent of a human pacing with the left to right line he swam in outside of the cave entrance. Some primal part of Elio recognised the behaviour for what it was, an alpha guarding their mate and ready to fight off a rival if one arose. Tytus’ protectiveness only increased as both their hormones slowly got the better of them. He brought Elio all his food, massaged his muscles when they ached from being immobile and pulled orgasms out of him with his mouth whenever Elio wanted which seemed to be all the time. Elio’s instincts were practically doing backflips for how much attention he was receiving from an alpha like Tytus, one who was beautiful and strong and kind.

Elio found himself wondering what their offspring would look like and how long everything took before they were born. Cecile had explained some of it, but there was none better qualified than Tytus himself to do so.

“The whole thing lasts for around six moons,” he explained. “So you can call that about six months or twenty-six weeks. The first four of those months the babies will be eggs but when they hatch, they need another two months to finish growing.”

“How big will they be when they’re born?” Elio asked, a slight touch of panic in his voice. 

Tytus took hold of his arm and straightened it out. “Nearly as along as your forearm, perhaps a bit smaller because they’re your first.” Elio looked at his arm in horror and was about to say something when Tytus spoke again. “Hey, don’t be worried. Your body will know what to do when the time comes, Elio. You just have to listen to it rather than your mind.”

“That sounds easier said than done.” He laughed a little, admiring how Tytus’ previous experience was probably the only thing keeping him so calm and collected.

“I can’t really explain it well enough because I’m not a breeder, but I’ve seen it many times.”

“You said you’ve never raised hatchlings before.”

“Not properly but I’ve seen them enough times,” Tytus smiled at him. “Despite everything, I’m looking forward to it. There’s a first time for everything.” It made Elio feel better that they would both be in the metaphorical deep end when it came to dealing with hatchlings in the long run. Elio recalled being told by Cecile that he wasn’t able to eat fish straight away, his teeth developing from the back first then to the front as he was bottle-fed as a baby for the first two weeks before he refused to drink milk anymore.

That was one particular aspect of parenthood that Elio was not looking forward to, but was glad it would last for such a short period of time before the babies would require the food the ocean provided.

Elio woke in the middle of the night when it finally hit him. A tingling sensation had developed in his chest, spreading outwards like water absorbing into sand and igniting his inner fire. He didn’t even need to wake Tytus before the alpha caught the scent and golden eyes seemed to glow in the dark space of the cave, Elio’s night vision acclimatising to the lack of light so he could see his alpha clearly.

“Tytus,” he whispered. “It’s starting.” He could feel the panic rising with the realisation that this was real and about to happen.

“Shh, sweet thing,” Tytus crooned against his cheek. “I am not going to hurt you.” Elio knew that, of course he did, but his fear was twisting with arousal and threading with enthusiasm, a bizarre concoction of emotions that he wasn’t sure which one would win. “Listen inside yourself,” Tytus urged. “Listen to your instincts, they guide us through life like a helping hand you cannot see.” Elio closed his eyes and steadied his breathing, focusing on what he was feeling. The heat was making him aroused obviously, but his mind was focused on Tytus and the words he was speaking, the wisdom he was offering. He was in good hands, the best, and he was so lucky to have Tytus as his first to the point he couldn’t imagine doing this with any other mer in the world. Nobody could replace the feelings Tytus had come to fill his heart with, making it quicken and steady at a moment’s notice. It was as exhilarating as it was scary and Elio realised he loved it.

One of Tytus’ hands held the back of his head while the other had moved to his slit, stroking slowly around its edge and making it flutter under the touch. “Open up for me,” his voice was everywhere inside Elio’s head. “Show me again what only I have seen.” His touch made Elio breathe harshly, gills contracting quickly to get the right amount of oxygen. He could feel himself getting wet with each word that was whispered into his ear, his inner walls loosening and preparing itself for what it always wanted every year and was finally going to get. Another teasing stroke around his edges had his scales parting where his slit was, clenching and unclenching and revealing the delicate pink of his channel. Tytus groaned in delight at the view, moving down Elio’s body to quickly lick his way inside and this time, Elio didn’t try to hold back his cries of pleasure. He pushed his hips up like he always did now when Tytus did this, trying to get that tongue deeper.

However, Tytus didn’t draw out his oral stimulation and instead sank one finger inside Elio as deep as it would go. His wetness was thicker than the water around them and it eased the way for Tytus like he was made for him. Elio wanted nothing more than to be taken by this mer, carried away with the currents of his heat and to never come back from it if it meant he would be feeling like this. Tytus added a second and a third finger, slowly drawing them out before sinking them back inside. It felt incredible, had Elio gasping with his head thrown back, but it wasn’t enough.

“Take me,” he pulled the alpha’s fingers out and spread his folds apart, watching the way Tytus eyed his hole like he was the most delicious thing he had ever seen. He leant forward as he moved over Elio, keeping himself upright with one arm while he reached down between his own hips and for the first time, Elio saw what he would be taking.

Tytus’ cock was almost the same shade of pink as his own insides, thick and long but narrowing towards the tip. It dropped from his slit and he pumped it in his hand, eyes closing as he did so at the feeling. Elio’s insides burned when he saw that cock that he wanted, _needed_ to have inside him. Tytus was so big, length shining with his own version of a slick that covered it from tip to base and Elio reached down without thinking about, his curiosity of what it felt like sated when he felt its rigidness in his hand. He mimicked the motion Tytus had done, watched the alpha with a salacious grin on his face at how golden eyes fluttered shut.

“Think you can take it?”

“Fuck, yes.” Elio gasped in response, moving the huge cock to his entrance and swirling it around the outside of him first. A moment of nerves struck him in that moment – would it hurt going inside? Would the eggs hurt as they were being laid? Tytus picked up on it, moving to kiss Elio deeply.

“It’s alright,” he whispered. “We’ll go at your pace. If you feel the need to sink your claws or teeth into me, just do it. If you want to scratch at my skin or scales, do it. Take everything you feel out on me, I’m yours.”

Tytus’ words of encouragement washed away the worst of his nerves like the waves washing away footprints in the sand. He nodded once, was all the confirmation Tytus needed to start pushing inside and as he did so, Elio buried his face in Tytus’ neck and focused on the feeling. It didn’t hurt at first, not as the narrow part of his tip slid home. As he pushed further in, Elio felt his folds splitting apart to accommodate, something they seemed to do of their own accord. He felt resistance of course, but he wasn’t clenching with anticipation. Rather, he was naturally bearing down against the intrusion, his body and mind in perfect agreement that this was what he wanted and no amount of awkward virginal nerves was going to ruin it. Elio winced a little, feeling the air rush from his aquatic lungs in a huff as Tytus had gotten about halfway.

“I’m alright,” Elio reassured Tytus when he paused and held firm eye contact. Elio pushed their foreheads together, a small smile pulling on his lips. “It feels good. You feel good, please keep going.” Tytus nodded after a kiss, reassumed his forward motion while the base of his tail looped loosely around Elio’s own, the gold and silver of their fins twining together. It only took Tytus a few moments more for him to reach the base, as far inside as he would go and Elio felt the tip of him press against the gateway to his womb. The circular ring of muscle that made up his cervix at the end of his channel was what needed persuading to relax as Tytus retreated before pushing forwards again. He had said that the pressure and resistance of the water made fast thrusting difficult and somewhat pointless when the eggs would make their way between partners, the most pleasurable part of mating. Elio was so ready for it, meeting the slow and deep thrusts that Tytus opted for to make sure Elio felt every sensation within. The thickness of his cock felt delicious both around the edges of his slit and at his innermost point.

When Tytus reached that far, it stung a little but naturally with each thrust, with each little nudge of from the tip of his cock, the feeling lessened. With his voice rising, Elio was at a loss for what to do with his hands until they clasped at Tytus’ back and he recalled what the mer had said to him about doing whatever he wanted, whatever he felt he needed to do. Elio felt each segment of Tytus’ dorsal fin, ran his hand over the sharp barbs that graced his back and feeling them lightly scratch his palms. An electric feeling coursed through his hand and he gasped, managing to make a mental note to ask Tytus about that when this was over.

At that moment, Tytus changed the angle of his hips a little, pushing his cock in an upwards motion that had Elio seeing stars. He screamed and clenched against the thrusts that aimed right at his cervix.

“Oh fuck, that feels… _insane_ …what are you-”

“The same way you opened here,” Tytus reached a hand between them to stroke his folds once more, teasing them a little with the tip of a claw. “You have to do the same for me in here.” He moved his hand back up to rest under Elio’s navel.

“I will, I will…I want your eggs, want you to breed me.” He didn’t even know what he was saying, but it turned out that listening to your instincts in the heat of the moment had been easier than Elio thought. His words made Tytus shiver and the alpha mouthed his away and down his neck, over his gills and back up.

“Fuck, you feel incredible. So wet, so tight, just sucking me in.” He punctuated the last three words with his hips pushing forwards and Elio came, screaming wordless sounds to the cave ceiling and lining Tytus’ back with red claw marks that made the alpha hiss, dorsal fin bristling. Elio barely felt the teeth grazing his collarbone, lost in his high that was strung out for everything it was worth. The tip of Tytus’ cock speared him good, pushing past the last bit of resistance his cervix had and he held himself there. He was so _deep,_ the thought of it had Elio’s mind spinning. He writhed and tried to chase the orgasm that was lingering and didn’t seem to want to finish just yet, its hazy edges coursing through his veins and setting him alight. The alpha breeding him had stilled and a hand came to grab his hip, claws lightly marring his skin. “Be still,” a gentle order that thrilled Elio’s instincts as his body waited for what was about to happen. “The eggs are ready for you, they’ll make you come again, don’t you worry.” Elio moved to kiss Tytus, their tongues meeting in the middle and Elio hummed into the smooth sensation.

The first egg made him jump in surprise, its large ovoid shape resting snugly against where they were connected. Elio’s initial blind reaction was to tense but he forced himself not to, told himself to relax and surrender to primitive act of nature he now desperately craved. The egg was larger than he thought, barely remembering that Tytus said they grew a little inside him also, he was only briefly surprised as it pushed its way through his slit. The feeling of it travelling up his passage, pushing him even wider was so euphoric that Elio was only mildly annoyed that Tytus only had two for him. With that being the case, he made sure to focus on every second it took for the egg to rest against his cervix.

“Relax, beautiful,” Tytus stroked a hand through Elio’s hair. “You want it, don’t you?”

“Oh yeah,” Elio grinned back at the other mer, amazed that he could find his voice when all the air was being pushed out of him. The egg felt heavy and it wasn’t even inside him yet, but it was _so close,_ his womb was more than prepared to house it safely. He gently bore down against the heaviness and it was all that was needed to have it slide inside him with a _pop._ Elio cried out, loving the sensation of it falling free into his womb and instincts crooning with joy at the little bump it was already making of his belly. “I never thought it would feel like this,” Elio reached to cup Tytus’ hips and drag his claws over bronze scales. “Why does it feel so damn good?”

“I don’t know,” Tytus grunted as his second egg entered his cock. “But the second wants to join the first.” He said nothing more but the pleasured sighs that matched Elio’s own, confirming that this was feeling just as good for Tytus as it was for him. This time, Elio made sure to look down and watch. The round bulge was at least the size of one of those citrus fruits with the red centre that Cecile liked, a grapefruit? He couldn’t be sure of the name of it, but it was the only thing he could compare it to for size and Elio moaned as he watched it slip past his rim, transferring the visual joy to the internal one.

“Ahh! I’m gonna come again…”

“Not yet,” Tytus swallowed a scream with a kiss. “Wait until it’s at the top, right as it’s about to be laid. Can you do that?” That sounded like a lot to ask when Elio was teetering right at the edge, dangling his fins over the tempting precipice to just dive over and into it, consumed again by the abyss of an orgasm that had never truly finished, only simmered beneath his skin and just out of reach. He nodded though, waited for the agonising seconds it took for the contraction of Tytus’ cock to push his egg further up and in and finally, _finally,_ it nudged Elio’s cervix and he was hit with the blinding pleasure once more.

Tytus shoved himself forwards, cock still buried firmly within Elio’s passage as the egg slipped free and settled next to its sibling. A rush of hot fluid followed it as Tytus emptied his egg sac into Elio of the substance that the eggs had been surrounded with, his chemical makeup the last thing he had to offer from his side to help bring them to life. Elio shrieked with the intensity of it, his claws sinking into the meat of Tytus’ shoulders as his womb sucked him dry of every last drop. The alpha sagged in relief, had been a lot quieter than Elio throughout their mating but was gasping for breath as he rested his head in the crook of Elio’s neck. The tip of his cock withdrew from within his womb now that its task was finished, but to Elio’s delight, he stayed inside him. He instantly felt the moment his cervix closed of its own accord, sealing itself back up like nothing had happened. He felt like he could melt into the marine vegetation underneath him and float away in the currents. Spent and blissed out, he felt an odd sensation adding to the hot fluid inside him. Like something almost _spraying_ inside him. He tensed and Tytus felt it, raised his head to regard Elio.

“You alright?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine, I just felt something weird inside me just now.” He frowned a little as the feeling tapered off and he looked down to rest a hand of the swell of his stomach. He was bigger than he thought he would be with just two eggs; swimming while pregnant was going to be a whole experience all on its own.

“What kind of feeling?”

“I don’t know, like a gush of something. It was super strange.” He laughed at his own body’s peculiarity.

“Wow, it happened already? I guess you really wanted my eggs, huh?” Tytus snuggled back down, moving one of his hands to join Elio’s own where they rested on his belly.

“What was it? Do you know?”

“Sounds like your seed gland is already fertilising them. You work fast, sweet thing.”

“Oh…” _Right._ It was that. Elio hadn’t expected to feel himself fertilising the eggs, but maybe he was just hyperaware of everything considering this was his first time?

“I make more of my own gametes fluid, you know. With how fertile you seem it’s almost a dead cert they’ve taken, but that is what makes your body do that. It’s like…a chain reaction. We can totally do it again tomorrow to be sure. Or later today, or whenever really.”

“Makes sense,” Elio replied with a smile, deciding he didn’t mind the feeling, especially if it meant a repeat of an incredible session like the one they just shared. “I’m down for that.”

“Mm, good,” Tytus hummed in satisfaction, arms encasing Elio in an embrace that had his heart squeezing in affection. “I’ll pull out in a minute, but just let me stay inside you for a bit more? You’re still so hot and wet and your heat isn’t over yet, I can smell it.”

“You can stay inside me for as long as you want,” Elio whispered into the space of the sea cave. Tytus was right, even though he had been bred his heat hadn’t receded after just one round. He could feel his slit tingling with interest at the idea of more already. Boldly, he took Tytus hand from the mound of his belly and lowered it to his slit. “Keep touching me, I love it when you touch me there.” He wiggled his hips a little which shifted the still erect cock inside him.

“You’re insatiable.” Tytus grinned as he sat back up, quickly getting to work on massaging the sensitive skin that hugged his shaft. Elio trilled and closed his eyes, mouth open on a sigh.

“I wish you had more eggs,” he said in earnest. “I feel like I could take many more.”

“I wish had more for you, sweet thing,” Tytus wrapped his arms around Elio again as he began to move in the delicious slow rhythm he had built before. “But two is enough for you to start with. Now open up for me again, I know you can do it, greedy fish.”

“Yes, _alpha.”_

Elio sank as deep into his heat as he would go, let himself be taken by Tytus over and over again until his voice was hoarse and every muscle in his body ached and after a moment’s rest, he begged to be taken again. Tytus’ back was a myriad of red lines that criss-crossed his beautiful skin as Elio’s instincts claimed him, sighing his affection into the neck of the incredible alpha whose young he already couldn’t wait to meet.

Elio lay flat on his back of the sand on the beach area, the small shingles of it further down that touched his tail felt amazing as they shifted against his scales. It was the most natural form of exfoliation that he offer them and was glad that Tytus thought the same as it happened in the ocean as well.

It had been four days since his heat began and it had finally ceased. Aching in ways he didn’t know he could, Elio couldn’t think of a better thing to do that rub the little pebbles of the beach against himself, something that soothed him beyond belief. It was late, the sky had long since gone dark and with only half of the moon showing, the night sky was delicately illuminated to reveal each and every star. Cecile had once explained that there were parts of the world were you could see the sky better than others, parts that were untouched by anything but nature itself and looked like a different world when night fell. Where humans congregated in their cities with their artificial light, it blocked the sky’s natural offering from view but thankfully, Moloka’i had little in its way of light pollution. Elio could look at the sky for hours and never be able to count all the stars. It looked different sometimes, some stars in different places to the rest than they were a few months ago, a natural phenomenon that Cecile called “rotation.” Whatever it was, it was beautiful and kept the sky looking like someone had thrown the stars up there at random, glittering gems on an inky blackness.

After the best part of four consecutive days in the sea cave, he was glad to be free of it, glad to have some semblance of normality in his life again as the heat left him and he could think clearly. As much fun as getting laid every hour was, Elio hadn’t realised how little he had eaten or how much he appreciated other little things like laying on the beach and staring at the sky. He looked forward to reading a book and perhaps teaching Tytus a few things so he could read the basics of a human’s language while the alpha had continued to teach him the language of the mer. He felt so content, so relaxed, Elio was sure he had never felt this way before.

He moved one hand down to rest underneath his navel where the eggs rested far from his reach. They felt _right,_ despite the situation and the nagging at the back of his mind that wondered what would happen to them when they were born. Cecile said she would speak to Darren and he could only assume that she had done so, the two humans formulating some sort of plan to make his, Tytus’ and their offspring’s life better in the long run. 

Movement near his tail drew his focus and Elio felt warmth spreading out from his chest when he saw Tytus surface and carefully manoeuvre himself next to him. The alpha sighed deeply, making sure his shoulder touched Elio’s when he stilled.

“It’s been a long time since I actively beached myself,” he admitted quietly. “But I guess on a night like this, I can see the appeal.”

Elio laughed. “Thanks for being so brave.”

Tytus shoved at him gently, a smirk pulling one side of his mouth. With the silvery light that the moon cast, he was stunning. His scales practically glowed, skin so smooth it could’ve been carved like the marble of a statue. Elio felt his fingertips laced with Tytus’ own and he smiled at the gorgeous alpha next to him. Tytus rolled onto his side, tail slowly swishing back and forth in the shallow water and for a moment, nothing happened. He simply looked at Elio, studying his face and it felt like he was looking right into him, as if Elio’s emerald eyes were a window to something else entirely.

“I can see the ocean in you,” he whispered. “It doesn’t matter that you’ve spent your years in captivity. I can see the wild nature of our ancestors as if you were right there in the ocean with me.”

For some reason, Elio felt tears spring to his eyes. “It’s funny you say that,” he replied. “Cecile says I sometimes _space out,_ like for a moment I’m not me, I’m someone else.”

“Does it happen when you talk to her?”

“Yeah, it only happens when I talk to her. Or when something happens relating to her or humans in general.”

“Mer were never supposed to interact with humans, not really,” Tytus raised a hand to touch Elio’s cheek. “We _are_ the ocean given a form and that’s something that can never be tamed.”

Elio pondered what Tytus had said long after the other mer had retreated to the relative safety of the cave and he had promised to join him shortly. He wasn’t so sure what Tytus had meant. Had him coming here and their meeting stir a nature inside him that had simply been silenced by the presence of humans? He felt so out of place among them, particularly with the way they were so interested in him physically and not what he had to say. Elio sat up and shimmied down into the water, sparing a glance at the building that Cecile and so many others worked out of. Humans were land dwelling creatures, it was no wonder that they were so interested in what was underneath the surface of the substance that made up most of the world they called home. The concrete and occasional glass of windows looked so alien to him, held no comfort like the kelp and rocks and sand did to him.

Elio looked down at himself; his isolation was over. He needed to be strong, now more than ever no matter what would happen from here on out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why do I love writing cervix ovi stuff? This is the third time LOL.
> 
> A bit of science for you; the type of reproduction I'm sort of using here is based on a real thing called "ovoviviparity". It's super fascinating and happens in semi-frequently in sharks but also happens to some species of snake and even some insects! Isn't biology fun? :D


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Elio realises what it is he feels for Tytus, Cecile delves into dangerous territory with Darren in order to do what's right. But time is becoming more of the essence...

“I believe congratulations are in order,” Dr Averton looked more than satisfied as he knelt in the sand next to Cecile who was currently moving a sonography wand across Elio’s belly. “The eggs are fertilised and two hatchlings are on their way.” Of course they were, Elio mused. Had Dr Averton actually not been watching the cameras during his heat? He was quite sure they had taken the very moment they had been laid inside him, the other times they had mated since were just a bonus. Tytus hovered nearby, Cecile somehow managing to convince Dr Averton to not have the alpha restrained or knocked out while they performed an ultrasound with a portable machine on the beach of the enclosure. He was concealed in the water just up to his eyes and even though he was out of reach, Elio could feel him simmering with barely contained rage. His protectiveness tripled the moment a human came into the enclosure. It didn’t matter who it was, whoever had entered was at risk with every second they lingered. Elio looked over to Tytus and offered him a small smile, internally begging the alpha to not do anything stupid and ruin the clean streak he had managed to maintain at the behest of Elio. 

The screen Cecile was pointing at didn’t immediately make any sense to him. He had seen it before, had had a scan much like this countless times in his life as he had been developing from a child into a teenager and a teenager into an adult. It was non-invasive, completely painless and although he didn’t particularly appreciate having his insides looked at, he withstood it simply because he could enjoy the elation on Cecile’s face. She could hardly believe that the two dark shapes on the screen were baby mer in their earliest forms. It was of course, the first time they had ever seen such a thing. It was this knowledge, that the eggs were definitely alive and well, that had Elio’s heart racing in a strange mix of happiness and anxiety. Give or take in six months’ time, he would be taking care of hatchings. _His hatchlings._

Thankfully, Dr Averton didn’t linger for very long as Cecile switched off the machine and began packing everything away. Once he was gone through the doors, Elio saw Tytus visibly relax and swim closer.

“I thought he would never leave. Fucking prick.” Tytus mumbled more to himself but both Elio and Cecile heard him.

“I always plan the required scans by myself, but he always seems to know when they’re going to happen. I feel like he’s watching my every move.” Cecile moved to the side of the beach where the sand met the low wall that surrounded it. She looked sullen for a moment before she snapped out of it. “In any case, he may not truly mean it, but I do; congratulations, Elio. Both of you.”

“Thank you,” Elio took Cecile’s outstretched hand when she offered it and gave it a squeeze. “I’m kind of terrified but above it all, I’m excited.” Tytus moved next to him, resting a hand at the back of his neck. When their mating season had finished and he had met with Cecile for the first time after, he had yet to catch his reflection in the underwater glass wall. For lack of a better word, he had looked _ruined._ Bites and scratches lined his back, neck and hips. His lips were kiss swollen and purple marks had been sucked into his pale skin around his gills and over his collarbone. Tytus hadn’t looked particularly better, but Elio could’ve died of embarrassment when he had met Cecile like that and not known just how awful he had looked. When he had complained to Tytus about it, the alpha had simply said he looked “claimed”, like he belonged. The humiliation he had felt had stirred up more feelings of affection in his chest than he cared to announce, but it had made him feel the tiniest bit better. Cecile had said nothing about it, had been as courteous as if it were a normal day. That had made Elio want to curl into a ball and never face her again.

Two weeks after the mating season had finished, he was completely healed as if it had never been at all with the exception he was now very much pregnant. Elio loved the tiny babies growing inside him and they had weeks, months before they arrived. How he was going to remain patient while he waited on them, he had no idea.

As time went on, Cecile did further scans and revealed that she was _working on something_ with Darren. She claimed she couldn’t tell him for his own safety lest Jamie catch on, but that he must trust her. Of course he did. While that was happening on the surface, Tytus surprised him when his affections didn’t stop after the honeymoon period of the heat had worn off. He still kissed Elio like his life depended on it, held him in his arms when they slept and most importantly, he still wanted to have sex. The last part confused Elio at first; the heat was over and the eggs have taken, so what’s the purpose? 

“Because it’s so much fun?” Tytus had replied ambiguously. He wasn’t wrong, sex was fun and it made him scream and go boneless and say nonsensical things but Tytus kept at it. How their situation had changed over their relatively short time together had Elio nothing short of amazed. He had begun to worry about things like, what if Tytus was sent to a different tank? What if another breeder was captured and he was to mate with them next season instead of him? What if they were separated for good and Tytus never got to see the hatchlings he had helped create? The rising panic broke inside Elio one night and he confessed to Tytus of his concerns.

“I am not going anywhere, Elio.” He said with such resolution, such confidence. “I said I would take you with me _if_ I had to go away, did I not?”

“Yeah…”

“Well then, you have nothing to fear.” Elio knew he was only saying these things to calm him. What power did Tytus have if Dr Averton chose to separate them? He had those drugs that made Tytus fall asleep against his will, he was in charge around here. There was nothing they could do but trust that Cecile would keep him in check in whatever way she could in order to keep them together.

At that moment as he lay facing Tytus’ chest, he was sure one of the eggs shifted slightly. One of his hands flew down to cup his stomach with a small gasp of surprise.

“What’s wrong?”

“I thought I…felt one of them move or something. Is it not too soon for that?” At this point, he was a little over the halfway point for their egg stage.

“It can happen,” Tytus reassured him and moved one of his own hands to copy Elio’s. “It will happen more and more until they hatch, and then you’ll really feel them.”

Elio understood that better and better with each passing week. The hatchlings did some serious growing in their eggs, the scans Cecile performed now clearly able to show the parts of the babies that made them what they were. He could see their heads and torso, their little arms crossed over their chests and hands balled into fists. Their tails were tucked up in front of them, curled gracefully around them so their flukes touched their foreheads. They were so beautiful and Elio didn’t know he could feel this way about something, his maternal instincts practically humming in contentment with the confirmation they were strong and healthy.

However, his feelings for them differed to how he felt about Tytus. When the alpha so much as looked his way, he felt his heart speed up. A warm feeling always bloomed in his chest which he didn’t have a name for. He wondered if Tytus felt the same, wondered if the alpha had come to care for Elio the same way Elio had come to care for him. Becoming intimate had been something Elio had initiated, so perhaps Tytus was waiting for him to do it again? Was he giving Elio the space he needed to make a decision? Tytus had said nothing about it, had simply treated Elio like he was a gem to be treasured. They did everything that a bonded pair would do, everything that Cecile said two humans did when they were romantically involved with one another, so what was Tytus waiting for? Elio began to wonder that this was all to make things easier for him through the whole process, nothing but a façade that would return back to the way they were before; tentative friends. He sincerely hoped not, hoped with everything he had that this was real.

His mood soured and of course Tytus noticed. The alpha lived with him, they ate meals together, slept side by side and did their swimming together. He was carrying his hatchlings for tides’ sake! Tytus hovered beside him, always a little close whether it was intentional or not, just within reach but just enough out of it as to not crowd Elio. What made Elio laugh internally was that they were both not great with words – how was he supposed to explain how he felt to someone who couldn’t seem to do the same? Would Tytus even understand? Said alpha’s patience grew thin very quickly, quicker than normal as Elio found himself confronted one evening in their cave.

“Alright, you’re not leaving this cave until you tell me what’s wrong. What’s pissing you off?”

“I am not _pissed off,_ I’ve just been thinking…”

“About?” Tytus waved in hand in a circular gesture like the rolling waves, insinuating for Elio to give him something to grab onto. He felt frustration bubble in his chest as he regarded the alpha and tried his best not to admire all his wonderful features.

“What is this?” He pointed between himself and Tytus.

“This is me trying to talk to you,” Tytus frowned and folded his arms over his chest. “Which feels very one-sided right now.”

“I don’t mean that, I mean…I just,” Elio pushed air from his aquatic lungs, bubbles rushing past his gills to gather at the ceiling of the cave. “I don’t really know how to explain it.”

“Explain what?” Tytus drifted closer. “You know you can talk to me.”

“Yes I know!” Elio snapped. “But that is what is making it so difficult for some reason.” Tytus said nothing, just floated near the cave entrance whilst Elio stayed nearer the back. He looked down at himself like he had done so many times now. He was almost big enough to properly hug his arms around himself, that couldn’t be more than a couple of weeks away if the hatchlings kept growing the way they were. Realising that Tytus was still waiting for a reply, Elio drew back in the deep breath he had earlier pushed out and gathered his thoughts behind closed eyes, laying out in his mind how to explain that he didn’t think he could live without Tytus and that the mer meant everything to him. “I think I’m…I think I’m falling for you.” He whispered so quietly he wasn’t sure Tytus had heard him, didn’t even want to open his eyes to check. 

“Say that again.” Tytus demanded gently.

His voice made Elio’s eyes fly open and look up, heat rushing to his cheeks which he was sure Tytus could see even in the relative darkness of the cave.

“I think I’m falling for you,” he repeated. Saying it a second time felt easier somehow. “I don’t know if this ruins everything we have between us if you don’t feel the same and I know that this whole situation was just thrown at us and we had to catch it but…” Elio looked down at his hands as he twisted them together, nerves wracking through him the same way they had done when he had first met the alpha. “I know what I’m feeling, even if I’ve never truly felt it before. It’s not the same way I feel about the babies, or even Cecile, so at first I wasn’t sure what it was. I’ve been thinking about it nonstop for the last week or so.”

“Yes, I’ve noticed,” Tytus chuckled softly. “It’s been bugging me, but only because I hate seeing you worried about something that you won’t tell me what it is.”

“Ugh, now I feel bad.” Elio complained but he smiled at Tytus who drew closer to nudge his shoulder.

“As you should!” He laughed.

“I’m sorry,” Elio ducked his head down but Tytus caught his chin. “I’m sorry” he said again.

“Why are you sorry?”

“Because I’m just a young idiot who is very confused.” _Don’t cry,_ Elio ordered himself. _You must not cry._

“I don’t think you’re an idiot or confused. You are young though.” Here it was, the rejection was coming and Elio steeled himself like he was ready to be physically hit instead of emotionally. “You love me.”

It wasn’t a question, even though it sounded like it should have been phrased like one. 

“Is that what it’s called?” Elio couldn’t look away from the incredible golden eyes that filled his vision.

“I believe so.” Tytus replied, voice dropping an octave as he moved closer still, close enough to kiss but keeping just an inch between their lips.

“You said pairs in the ocean don’t really happen. They’re the exception, not the rule.”

“I did say that,” Tytus hushed. “But I will make it my exception, if you will too.”

Elio was sure he was crying now, the relief that he wasn’t alone in this peculiar flood of emotions that was _love._ He had never been in love, had never had anyone to feel that way about in the first place so of course he wouldn’t know the feeling if it slapped him in the face. Now he felt a little silly, felt like maybe he should slap himself in the head with his tail or at least get Tytus to do it so some sense could be knocked into him. 

“I already have.” He replied to the offer that Tytus had laid out and his lips were captured in a kiss. Elio knew he had gotten better at kissing but damn, he would never be as good as Tytus. He always led and Elio followed, only sometimes managing to catch him off guard in pleasant surprise with a sweep of his tongue or pulling his lower lip delicately between his teeth. Right now, Elio did just that and Tytus hummed into his mouth. When they broke apart, Elio felt light headed like he could fizzle away into seafoam.

“Hey, you’re not the only one who thought this would never happen to them,” Tytus moved back so he could better look at Elio, one hand rubbing back and forth across his belly where his eggs were growing. “In all my years, of all the mer I have met, I haven’t felt for them like I feel for you. I am a little surprised it’s taken me so long, but pleasantly so.”

“I thought it might be too cliché that I fall for the first mer I met.” Elio laughed bitterly at the way he had done just that, although he felt better when he recalled that was not his intention in the beginning. But things change.

“Everything happens for a reason.” Tytus shrugged one shoulder.

“Oh yeah? What’s the reason you think you were brought here? Over and above whatever the humans claim.”

“I was brought here to meet you, of course.” A quick and tentative kiss graced the tip of Elio’s nose, the hand caressing his belly moved back up to cup his cheek. Elio was stunned to silence at how honest Tytus was being, but the mer had never spoken a lie to him in all the time they had spent with one another. He never hesitated and he wasn’t doing so now, it made that strange quickening of his heart happen again, something that he finally had a proper word for. He moved forward, rested his forehead against his mate’s.

_Mate._

That’s what they were now, for real this time, not fabricated like the doubts Elio had tried to plant in his own mind. They were partners, a family, and no matter what happened from now on in the months ahead, there wasn’t anything that could change that.

*******

The mezzanine floor had an emergency exit that led back up to the surface. Legally, it had to for being underground lest anything happen and people get trapped down there, or if a power outage got shot of the elevator. The assembly point for those who were down here at the time of a fire drill or any other requirement that had them leaving the area, led out to the parking lot for everyone’s cars. There was a maintenance tunnel as many of the pumps and filters that powered the tanks not just for Elio and Tytus, but everything else that was kept here, all led back down underground here. It was all hidden away so it didn’t spoil the view of a replica ocean inside each glass box.

Pipes and wires filled one of the larger rooms off the main hallway, computer screens and monitors keeping tabs on everything’s functionality. All in all, it was the hub of everything that kept the Averton Facility going, it was an electrical beating heart that never ceased or slowed.

Cecile stood in the maintenance tunnel and counted every camera she could see. There were four in total, two facing in opposite directions over the slight slope that the service or delivery trucks drove down which were able to see who and what was arriving or leaving. A third camera had a wide view of the entire floor as it slowly swept from left to right. It could obviously see the doors that Cecile had to push open to get out into the delivery area anyway, but only for a few seconds before it turned its mechanical eye elsewhere. The fourth camera kept its eye over the numerous gas cylinders at the back of the room, so that one wouldn’t be a problem as she need not even get near it. That just left the other three. Cecile had made some bullshit excuse as she given herself permission to access the control room where screens the size of A4 paper lined the walls. Every camera could be seen here and as Cecile came up with the story that she needed to access the footage of Tytus when he was still in the holding tank to one of the aging guards, he didn’t question her further. It gave Cecile a few minutes to get an idea of what watched where and what numbers the cameras had which identified them and where they were located. A few minutes was all she needed.

The doors she had come through to reach the entire maintenance area had a little service ramp to assist with anything that wasn’t designed for stairs. It was perfect for the container that could be used to move the mer from the enclosure and down to here. Darren had a beat up old Toyota Hilux, a single cab model that only had the front two seats with the rest taken up by the loading space. Cecile couldn’t believe how perfect it all seemed, maybe it was too straight forward? 

The weather was warming and tropical storms were more likely. Every time she saw the weather channel talk about rain, it had Cecile hoping that one would be large enough to give them the cover they needed to take out the power supply. It was bittersweet, Hawaii as a whole had suffered through more than enough storms for several lifetimes, had claimed people’s lives as the ocean was pushed inland by voracious winds. Hurricane Iniki was only thirty years ago or so and 230km/h winds were not what she wanted, but at this point with her tingling desperation getting stronger by the day, Cecile couldn’t lie when she thought to herself how much a perfect storm might help in that aspect.

Copying everything she could to Darren’s computer felt strangely satisfying in the most peculiar way. Was she breaking the law? What would happen when she pressed _send?_ Cecile had never so much as dropped a Kleenex on the ground and not picked it up, let alone do anything on a scale like this. In her typing, she made it extremely clear that not everyone in Jamie’s facility knew what was going on, were innocent to his barbaric practices and the secrets he fiercely guarded. There was so much at risk, so much she could lose and little for her to gain. She didn’t want or need compensation for outing what was going on here, she didn’t want so much as a speck of recognition and neither did Darren. The place and the people they were going to for help did know that merfolk research was a thing, but of course they had no idea what was going on here. Jamie had some powerful people in his pocket, people who wanted to see him get things none no matter what the costs were. Were they the ones that wanted to breed merfolk in captivity? Or was that Jamie’s idea all along? Like the orcas of SeaWorld, were merfolk doomed to be caught in the same cycle? Oh, they were born in this environment so they aren’t suitable to be placed back in the wild, right?

Not on Cecile’s watch.

In the board meetings that followed with Jamie and the rest of the team, everything progressed as normally as it could. They discussed Elio’s condition and how well everything was going, how the hatchlings were strong and healthy but they couldn’t tell if they were male or female. Tytus had laughed at that, saying it was something nobody knew but the ocean. He spoke of it as if it was a real living thing. Well, it _was_ in a scientific way. But Tytus talked about how the ocean decided things as if it were capable of making conscious decisions. How it chose to give life and take it away with the change of the currents. How it followed the wind’s command, throwing itself against the land and destroying everything in its path. Or how it shaped the land and helped things to survive, giving food to both humans and marine life combined. To Cecile, the relationship between land and sea had always seemed like a fragile peace treaty and now that she was hearing Tytus talk about it in such a way, she couldn’t help but be inclined to agree with him. He said merfolk were physical creations of the ocean itself, a blend of everything it was and even what it wasn’t, living in perfect synchrony in a way that humans would never understand, regardless of the research they were doing.

Maybe there was a reason so little of the ocean had truly been discovered.

When she wasn’t gritting her teeth in Jamie’s company or sneaking into Darren’s apartment to converse more about how they were going to get Elio and Tytus out of here, she was sitting on the beach with Elio and talking about everything and nothing. She didn’t care how the tepid water soaked her trousers or lab coat; at this stage, nearly everything she owned smelt of the sea. Elio, although anxious for the babies to hatch, was buzzing with excitement to meet them. There wasn’t a lot of time left before they would hatch, perhaps a handful of weeks if not less. He looked like he had swallowed a beach ball, or perhaps a large watermelon. He couldn’t swim as well as he did before or as far before he was too tired to move. But Tytus was always there to help him, a steady pillar of strength that Cecile was so glad for.

Interestingly, they were still intimate despite having done what they needed to do months ago. It hadn’t been seen before in merfolk in the wild and it had Cecile so curious she had to stop herself from outright asking Elio what was actually going on between him and Tytus. Thankfully, he revealed it himself. 

“I love him,” he whispered shyly, a blush forming on his cheeks while he lay on his side half submerged in water on the shore of the beach. “I didn’t know what it was at first, especially because I’ve never felt it and add in the fact that Pacific mer don’t usually form pairs. But that’s what it is and I don’t know how else to explain it. I forgot how to breathe for a moment when he said he feels the same.”

“I’m so happy for you, _mon cœur,”_ Cecile reached for Elio’s nearest hand and he took it. “I was worried Tytus would be too…wild, for lack of a better word. I would hate for you to be alone in this.” She gestured with her other hand at him general.

“Heh, me too. That’s the first thing that came to my mind actually. But I needn’t have worried. He’s perfect.” He stared off into space with a dreamy expression on his face and Cecile felt so glad for him. This would, without a doubt, only help when it came to releasing them both now that Tytus would always have Elio’s back. She would do anything to see their little family swim free.

In his typical fashion, Jamie managed to squash her good mood back into the depths of her chest where it felt like it could never surface again. He cornered her one afternoon as she was in the main lab, eyes gleaming and looking extremely pleased with himself. Once in his office, she seated herself at his desk and waited for him to speak.

“We’ve been supplied some additional funding with the interest from new sponsors. With this, I plan to build an additional tank. I will also be able to secure some more of the senior members of the staff here from the main building and bring them into the know-how over on this side.”

“An additional tank? What for?” The tiniest shred of hope swirled in Cecile’s gut, but when Jamie turned to her with a smile on his face that was far from warm it was cut down before it could properly flourish.

“With the success of Elio and Tytus producing offspring, our new sponsors would like to see more of that. I have been given the go-ahead for a complete breeding program, but because our current breeder is already pregnant, different mer are required.” He looked pointedly out one of the windows to the South Pacific. “They’re out there Cecile, we just need to find them.”

Cecile’s heart sank like a stone, stomach feeling like it might drop to her feet. She felt anger building up, threatening to break out of its cage but it was laced with fear, a toxic concoction. She didn’t know what to say, so she said nothing. She simply nodded slowly with the most neutral face she could muster when Jamie’s phone rang from his coat pocket. He had been taking a lot of calls recently. Cecile was dismissed from his office and as calmly as she could, found Darren in his own office typing away on his computer. When she entered without knocking, she was halfway to tears.

“Christ, what’s wrong?” He stood up so quickly he almost knocked his chair over.

“He’s…Jamie is-”

“Here, sit down.” Darren guided her by her shoulders to a chair in the corner and Cecile sat herself down and tried to steady her breathing.

“Jamie has new sponsors somehow. They’ve given him a bunch of money to start a proper breeding program with the mer.”

“Isn’t he already doing that?”

“This is just the start,” Cecile shook her head and hunched over, about ready to pull her hair out in frustration. “He wants to build an additional tank and take more merfolk from the wild like he has done with Tytus. Those he captures would be the next ones to have hatchlings here.”

“Fuck sake,” Darren breathed out harshly from where he knelt at Cecile’s level. “We have got to hurry.”

“I know but we can’t do anything until their children are born. Elio is in no condition to be moved around and he tires easily. I know it gets riskier every day but if we wait until the hatchlings are here and weaned, then he will be at his full strength for what lies in wait for him on the other side.”

Darren sighed again and flopped backwards to land on one hand while he rested the other on a propped up knee. “How long have we got now? Three months?”

“Give or take. They could hatch any day now and then it’s several weeks until they’re born.”

“But then another couple of weeks until they start eating fish.” Darren added.

“We can’t rush this or them. We have to let nature take its course.” 

“What are the chances of a tank being built in that time?”

Cecile thought about it. Elio’s current one had gone up quickly while he was a child and housed in a smaller enclosure. “Slim I suppose but even if it does get built, it took him seven years to lure Tytus close enough for capture. Unless he’s come up with a more efficient way of capturing one, he’s going to be going in blind.”

“True, but Jamie could just bypass all of that and get location information out of Tytus himself. Especially if he starts threatening Elio or their offspring.” He was right, Cecile sighed. Jamie hadn’t been able to get much out of Tytus in the beginning, it was only after he had started to bond with Elio that he began talking. Now, with his mate not far off from having their first hatchlings, his protectiveness was at an all-time high. Jamie could easily swoop in and ruin their family unit by harming Elio or the little ones. She would not put that past him, no matter how much the thought made her sick to her stomach. 

“I have to tell Elio.”

“If you tell him that, you will have to tell him our plans too and he will reveal them to Tytus. It’s not worth the risk of Jamie or one of the others deciphering their chat underwater. They’re looking into better sound quality and it’s only a matter of time before they find a suitable replacement for everything we’ve got here. Then none of us will be safe.”

Cecile looked down at her hands and chewed the inside of her lip. With this new development, they were running out of time. But they had to wait. She had agreed to no more secrets with Elio but this was different and risking him and Tytus any further than was necessary wasn’t an option.

“This has got to work,” she said, referencing their plan. “We can’t afford to fail.”

“No,” Darren replied, his face stern and composed. “We won’t.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hurricane Iniki was the most powerful hurricane to ever hit Hawaii in September 1992. It lasted just over a week and cost $3 billion of damage to the nation. Nature can be scary :(
> 
> For anyone wondering what Cecile is doing, the word for it is _whistleblowing._ I found it quite difficult to depict when writing, as in reality it's a very serious thing and not to be taken lightly. I have no personal experience with it but I did a fair amount of research so I'm hoping it's coming across as severe and dangerous as it seems, particularly in coming chapters. But I guess you'll have to wait and see for that!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two new mer are welcomed into the world...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Live birth, but not particularly graphic.

Elio didn’t feel right, hadn’t for the last couple of weeks. He didn’t feel sick or particularly unwell, but he certainly didn’t feel great either. He felt so hungry a lot of time, something that Tytus assured him was normal as the eggs entered their final stages of growth. The hatchlings were almost ready to hatch, to become exactly what their pronouns meant and that led him to realise he didn’t have actual names for them. He had thought about it a lot, had mentioned it a few times to Tytus who had come up with some, but nothing jumped out at him. The strange uneasiness he felt peaked when deep inside him, something _moved._ It was a sharp quick motion, like the ones Tytus had told him he made in his sleep while dreaming.

It happened again but this time, aimed more towards his lower back. Elio froze, fear creeping through him. Was something wrong? What was happening? Tytus’ hands encircled him, guiding him back inside the cave. 

“Shh, it’s alright pretty fish.” He had his smooth voice on, something he used when Elio was borderline panicking or already in full on panic mode over something. It calmed him down, that was for sure, but Tytus only used it for good reason. Elio opened his mouth to speak but Tytus cut him off before he could ask the obvious. “They’re hatching, can’t you tell? Feel.” He moved to face Elio and plant both his hands on his belly and when he did, he felt it. Little fluttering movements that seemed unsure at first but grew more confident with each heartbeat. The babies had grown tired of the confines of their eggs and finally wished to be free. Elio moved to sit down on a rock, something that Tytus helped him with. He felt kisses pressed to his neck and cheek before they moved up the side of his face to his temple. It had Elio wondering how breeders in the ocean dealt with this without the comfort of the alpha they had bred with to surround them like Tytus was doing for him. He knew they tended to stick together in small groups of exclusively their type, but Elio couldn’t imagine doing this without Tytus next to him, holding him like he was now and whispering calming and encouraging things into his ear.

After several minutes, the movements slowed before finally stopping altogether. It didn’t hurt, but it didn’t feel great either and the odd sensations of having something moving inside him had Elio feeling the tiniest bit nauseous.

“I’m guessing their eggs just dissolve right?” The thought that little pieces of egg were floating around in him made him feel even sicker.

“Yes,” Tytus confirmed. “They’re still attached to their yolk sacs, but are otherwise almost ready.”

“And that…yolk sac thing, just does what? Dissolves too?” Elio couldn’t remember what Cecile had said when he had hatched.

“It comes out with them, but it tears and is useless. It will just diffuse in the water so it’s likely you won’t see it all.” All of that sounded awful, but Elio just focused on the fact that they would be here very soon. He snuggled further into Tytus’ arms, suddenly feeling a nap coming on.

“I’ve been thinking about names again, but I want to see them first, to see if it suits them.”

Tytus hummed in agreement. “Don’t tell me either. I trust you.”

So Elio didn’t, he kept them to himself even though they were right at the tip of his tongue. Now that the babies were free of their shells, they did the slightest bit more growing, but otherwise kept him occupied with their constant movement. After just over a month of it, Elio was fed up.

“This is getting ridiculous, Ty,” he complained as he sunned himself in the shallows. Swimming slowly and half dragging himself along on his side was the only thing that stopped the hatchlings from apparently trying to either switch places inside him or have a sibling fight already. “I can’t believe you said you had up to _six_ eggs at one point! How does that even work?”

Tytus laughed, floating on his back in the shallows as Elio slowly swam around him. “Well, hatchlings don’t get quite as big inside you if there are more of them as there isn’t as much room.” He explained as if Elio should have known that all along. It did make sense he supposed, but it still sounded uncomfortable for the one carrying them. Elio tried to picture what a group of breeders might look like, all carrying at the same time. There would undoubtedly be a lot of moral support from those who had bred before. Plus there would always be someone to ask if there was something you didn’t understand or had a question about. To be honest, it sounded ideal to Elio but only if Tytus was there as well of course. 

“Were there breeders in your little group?” They hadn’t spoken much about that for a while and it had Elio curious once again.

“There were, two females named Mai and Thea. They were older though, they didn’t breed anymore.”

“Why did they travel with you?”

“Well, they went to see family they had in the Coral Sea each year, but they also acted as helpers of sorts, to the breeders that had gone there to give birth. The waters around there are perfect for it.”

“Do you have like, a close friend? Like humans do?” Tytus glanced at him for a moment, features softening before he went back to his sunbathing with closed eyes.

“Asha,” he said after what felt like enough silence that Elio thought he might not answer. “I’ve known him the longest, we grew up together in the same pod. I…” Tytus looked wistful again, brows drawn together. “I miss him.” He added softly and Elio stopped his swimming to drift closer to his mate, placing a kiss on his cheek. Tytus smiled at that, turning enough to kiss Elio properly. “We used to get up to some stupid shit when we were young.”

“Oh yeah? Do tell.” Elio grinned.

“Let’s go to the cave before you burn.” Tytus eyes Elio’s paler skin tone and made his way to their cave. Elio followed but at a slower place, weighed down by the heaviness of the hatchlings. They were sitting a lot lower inside him than when they had first hatched weeks ago.

Tytus had only just began to tell stories of his childhood with his closest friend when the dull ache he had felt in his pelvis for the past week crested to a peak so sharply that he almost screamed. The strangled noise that left Elio’s mouth was something he had never made before and it took him by surprise, a hand clapping over his mouth whilst the other grabbed at his belly. The babies shifted, twisting around each other as they seemed to decide who would be born first.

Oh tides…

“Elio, are you alright?”

“Um, I think so? I think…I think they’re-” he didn’t get the words out as another sharp wave of pain rolled over him. It barely lasted a couple of seconds, but it was enough to take his breath away in those moments. Tytus was quick to act, moving to help Elio lay on his side which took the pressure off his back.

“I think they’ve decided they want out,” he kissed the tip of Elio’s nose. “They must have heard you complaining.” Elio tried to laugh, could definitely see the funny side of the situation as he really had been complaining hardly an hour ago, but the laughter he felt in his chest was pushed out as a groan. This time, he rode the wave of the pain instead of letting it consume him. _Listen to your instincts,_ he reminded himself, recalling what Tytus had once said about them guiding every mer through life like an invisible hand showing them the way. He was built to do this, he _could_ do this.

It wasn’t a quick process, Elio realised that much when the cave grew darker as the sun went down. Cecile and whoever else must have been watching from the cameras and realised he was in labour, as the surface of the enclosure was a small buzz of activity. If the humans thought he would simply come straight out of the cave and show them his newborn children, they had another thing coming. The presence of the humans was something he found easy to ignore however, especially when as the cave was almost in complete darkness from the late hour, the first hatchling slipped from his body in a burst of reddish and yellow fluid. He managed to half catch the hatchling, quickly realising it was a little girl. She twisted and writhed in the water as he caught a hold of her tail and managed to laugh at how she instantly wanted to turn into his warmth.

“Oh my, look at her.” Elio whispered, his voice a little hoarse from the pains of labour and there was still one more to go. The pressure at the top of his cervix was building again, hardly giving him a breather but it meant it would be over quickly. The second hatchling needed a little more encouraging and Elio had to hand his first born to Tytus so he could better grip at the kelp and sea lettuce under him, using it as leverage to bear down into the contractions.

Several pushes later and just as his strength was giving out, Elio felt the little hatchling leave him and enter the real world, flailing around much like its sister had done. The fluid accompanying the baby quickly did exactly as Tytus had said it would, dissipating into the seawater before the scent of it was gone completely. It was a boy, an alpha like his father and Elio hugged the tiny hatchling to him, pulling the biggest pieces of kelp around him and his sister as Tytus placed her down.

“Well done, Elio, you did it.” Tytus nosed into Elio’s neck and he felt his heart swell so much he thought it might burst with the affection flowing through him.

“We did it,” he corrected. “I couldn’t have done it without you by my side.” Tytus lied down on the other side of where the hatchlings were positioned between them. “I love you.”

“And I love you,” Tytus replied, sealing that declaration with a soft kiss. “Rest now. I’ll watch over you and them.” Elio didn’t resist the pull of exhaustion that hours of labour had made. Even though the humans were watching, always watching, he felt safe in the knowledge that his mate was guarding him and their children.

*******

The boardroom was a buzz of such barely contained excitement the likes of which Cecile had only ever seen once before; when Jamie had announced he was going to capture Tytus. It was slightly different this time though. Now, the team were cheering and congratulating each other as if they had had a personal hand in the birthing of the hatchlings. The footage of them, of Elio and Tytus in what was obviously a very private and personal moment between them, was displayed on the huge screen at the top of the boardroom for all to see. It had happened in the middle of the night, in the barest of early hours after Elio had gone into labour in the evening. He seemed well despite the pain and length of time it had taken for the babies to be born. They were difficult to see on the cameras in the darkness and the way he naturally shielded them from view made it even more challenging. Then Tytus had moved just so and completely obscured them from view. Even now in the early morning, Elio had barely moved but to position the babies better so that they could nurse from him.

Cecile was so proud of Elio, she felt like she could cry with joy. Despite the situation and their entire intimate process having been watched with the eyes of a hawk, he had still found something in Tytus, and the alpha in him also. They had fallen in love, situation be damned, and had formed a close bond that perhaps nobody here thought they would but was something that Cecile had hoped for with all her heart from the moment they began speaking in a civil manner. It felt like so long ago, yet it was only six months. So much had happened and would continue to happen unless she did something about it. The plans for the new tank were in full force; their blueprints laid out for the staff to see on the boardroom table. It was to be built around the side of the building nearer to the shore than where the current one was positioned. Its location gave it shelter from the sun better than Elio’s did and would be completely invisible to the staff unless they physically walked around the side and even if they did, Jamie likely had his excuses and cover up story already planned. 

It was early October and the weather was warm and humid, Moloka’i Island’s tropical nature shining bright. It would taper off and cool down as the end of the year got closer, but otherwise held a steady temperature of the mid to late eighties that still had Cecile walking around without her coat on, her Canadian blood still running a little colder in comparison even after all these years. However, it was ideal for merfolk it seemed, and answered a lot of questions as to why the mer of the South Pacific had their mating seasons in April as by the time the hatchlings were born, the ocean was pleasantly warm and taught them to acclimate as it began to get cooler for the winter months. It was endlessly fascinating to Cecile and as she was tidying the beach area of the enclosure one sunny evening, she jumped as Tytus surfaced nearby. It was the first time she had seen him in person for the best part of a week as he had barely left the cave with the exception to get food, carefully guarding Elio and their children and glaring daggers from below at anyone that so much as stepped foot in the enclosure’s area. 

He watched Cecile as she swept sand that had been blown onto the concrete back onto the beach. She offered him a small smile, made sure to keep back from the water lest he change his mind about their fragile acquaintance status and drag her below the water to drown. However, he did nothing, simply watched with just his eyes and the top of his sandy coloured hair visible. It would be extremely unsettling if Cecile didn’t find his eyes so beautiful and had become somewhat accustomed to the looks of disdain he gave every human.

“Congratulations, Tytus, I really mean it. Please tell Elio as such.”

“You can tell him yourself, he’s almost ready to come out again.” His reply took her by surprise and she stopped sweeping, watching how he trod water with the grace only one of the merfolk could do.

“Is he…alright? Are the babies alright? Are _you_ alright?” The questions flew out before she could stop them.

Tytus snickered at the back of his throat but he smiled. “Yes, everyone is fine, thanks.”

“Good, I’m glad,” she set the broom down against the far wall before walking back over to the beach. “Do you need anything? Is there anything I can do?”

Tytus seemed to think about the offer for a moment, looking around the enclosure space before replying. “Fish rich in protein will help Elio greatly. If I can’t catch it myself for him, I suppose you could get it for us. Fish like tuna, anchovies, maybe some sardines in a larger amount because they’re small. Any of those will help with them currently nursing and even more so when they start eating.”

“Yes, of course,” Cecile made mental notes to get those fish on their list of foods as soon as possible. “Can I…can I meet them? Only when you’re both alright with it, of course.”

Tytus tilted his head, obviously considering her request and for a moment, she thought he might actually say no with how his eyes narrowed the slightest. “Yeah, _you_ can. Nobody else though.”

Cecile smiled at Tytus as her way of thanking him, believing that her words might not mean as much as her actions. He wasn’t like Elio who thrived on conversation. Tytus was much more reserved in that aspect and didn’t speak to her unless he absolutely had to. He nodded once before disappearing below the surface and back into the cave. Cecile went back to sweeping the last of the sand, feeling only slightly special that she would be the only one allowed to see the new babies up close. It begged the question as to what Jamie would say when he learnt of this order from the father of them, and she hoped he wouldn’t do anything drastic in typical Jamie fashion.

However, he did nothing. Jamie simply smirked to himself when Cecile told him as such and subtly ordered that she report absolutely everything to the finest detail. His reaction was not what she expected and it had her feeling slightly on edge as she left his office. Cecile reported back to Darren, as was their custom with each other after every interaction with their superior these days and watched and waited for Elio to feel strong and confident enough for his new offspring to emerge from the cave. As the days had gone on, she could see them better as he had sat up and moved around the cave. Elio had made a little nest from the bed of kelp and sea lettuce that he had at his disposal, curling himself around it at night and tucking the babies in as if they were human children being covered by a blanket. He also often kept a thicker piece of kelp wrapped around them when he picked them up individually, which gave Cecile an idea…

It was a Sunday afternoon, most of the staff heading back to the mainland for the weekend or venturing out into the wilderness of the eastern side that Moloka’i Island had to offer, which left hardly anyone around. Some of the staff were even heading off on early Christmas holidays which made the huge facility even quieter during the weekdays. Cecile preferred it that way, especially as it gave her a little more freedom to spend doing her own thing when her working day was done. She carried a package down to the enclosure today, nothing particularly special but still a gift nonetheless for the new parents. She had watched Elio venture out of the cave for the first time in almost two weeks, the little hatchlings eager to explore more of their world and had grown bored of the cave. For their young ages, they had incredible dexterity and co-ordination, quickly able to grasp the basics of swimming in a straight line and easily figuring out how to turn around smoothly. They also seemed to have no problem descending and ascending through the water, something that Elio as a baby had also had no problem doing when everyone thought he was too small and weak to swim in a larger place by himself.

The hatchlings were proving everyone wrong; their kind were born out in the open ocean and them swimming straight away was no different than a zebra foal learning to walk within hours of being born. The ocean was dangerous and merfolk were not humans, did not spend literal years being unable to fend for themselves. Cecile watched with such pride as the two hatchlings swam out into the space of the tank for the first time, completely unafraid. Tytus didn’t seem overly concerned either as he led them out, keeping a watchful eye but otherwise relaxed as they followed him, making excited squeals of joy as they did so. It was Elio who seemed to have trouble figuring out how not to smother them like an overprotective mother hen.

Cecile sat patiently on the beach and waited for Elio to come to her, something that didn’t take too long with how the hatchlings eagerly raced about. He managed to catch one while Tytus caught the other, placing them in the crook of Elio’s arm so he expertly carried them in both arms so they faced each other.

“They can’t surface and breathe the air this young,” he explained as he hung back in the water, concealed up to his shoulders. “You’ll have to get wet if you want to see them.” Elio grinned at her and inclined his head for her to come closer. Quicker than she ever had, Cecile chucked her coat, shoes and socks away before creeping forwards to sit as close to Elio in the water as she could. It was still deep enough that she was almost floating if she raised her feet from the sandy bottom and the tiny sense of dread of being in the water with an alpha as dangerous as Tytus had the hairs on the back of neck standing up, but Elio’s smile and gentle tone calmed her. He wanted her to meet his babies, and she was honoured to.

“This is Neri,” he moved his left arm forwards, offering the little baby out to her. “She was born first. You can hold her, if you want. Just keep her below the surface.”

“Okay.” Cecile didn’t know what else to say, all her words stolen from her with the adorable little hatchling that was passed to her. Neri was about the same size as a healthy newborn human infant, easily seven or eight pounds if she had to guess. She was pale like her mother with sandy blonde hair like her father and Elio’s gorgeous green eyes. Her tail and fins were somewhat neutral, a light beige almost with only flecks of colour coming through near her waist.

“Hatchlings don’t get their colours until they’re a little older,” Tytus explained. “It helps them camouflage with the sandy seafloor.” Elio had held a similar lack of colour when he was born, yet his green and blue had quickly come in. Cecile simply nodded, didn’t voice that she knew that already but it still felt good for it to be confirmed by an actual mer rather than human speculation. The smallest pieces of colour were almost vermillion at Neri’s tiny waist under her navel, signalling they would appear from the top down. She fidgeted in Cecile’s hold but otherwise stayed still, simply blinking up at her through the water and trying to figure out who she was. Cecile felt sharp pinpricks of tears gathering at the corners of her eyes and fought to blink them away.

“Oh Elio, she’s incredible.” Cecile kept Neri held in the crook of her arm like Elio had done, moving her other hand to carefully touch a chubby cheek. Neri flinched at first, but quickly realised Cecile was nobody to fear and she smiled a mostly toothless grin at her, little molars already developing at the back of her mouth in preparation for her to start eating solid food. When Cecile handed Neri back to Elio, he swapped her for the younger of the two hatchlings.

“This is Kaius. He is tremendously boisterous for being so young, has the energy of a dolphin so keep a grip on him or he’ll slip out of your grasp like an eel.” Cecile laughed along with Elio as she took their youngest into her arms the same way she had done with Neri. Almost immediately, Kaius tried to turn over in her hold and investigate her trouser pocket that had captured air in it and formed a bulge. His little tail pushing against her chest with surprising force.

“Oh no you don’t,” Cecile kept the grip on him that Elio had warned about and he quieted a little, peering at Cecile through the shallow water with eyes the colour of the sky. His hair was darker, would likely take after Elio himself and the tiny speckles of colour coming through on his scales seemed to match his eyes and the vivid cerulean of the Pacific itself. “They’re so cute.” Cecile spoke more to herself than to anyone else.

“Aren’t they? I don’t know what I was expecting but it wasn’t this.” Elio laughed again, reaching for Tytus when the alpha came closer. “They hurt like a bitch coming out though. Thanks.” He shoved at Tytus’ shoulder with a smirk, the other mer simply grinning back.

“You weren’t complaining when they were going in.”

“Tytus!” Elio blushed like a ripe tomato and Cecile threw her head back with a cackle.

“Too much information!” She exclaimed. It felt good to be laughing like this, it had been too long. Little Kaius took Cecile’s lapse in concentration for the escape route he took it for, twisting around on himself and using Cecile’s arm as a launching point to dart out of her hold and back into the deeper water. “Oh, _merde!”_

“Don’t worry, I got him.” Tytus caught Kaius by the hatchling’s caudal fin, easily manoeuvring him so he was now back in the same position but in his arms.

“Oh, that reminds me! I have a present for you, for both of you really.” Cecile shuffled backwards until she could reach the box on the shore, pulling it apart easily as the cardboard soaked and yielded when touched by water. She pulled out a sling, a dark green like Elio’s eyes. It was a material that perhaps wouldn’t survive saline water in the long run, but it would suffice for the time being while the hatchlings were still small.

“What is it?” Elio asked.

“It’s a sling,” she replied as she unfolded it and threw the box back out of reach. “It’s for the babies, I suppose. You put this bit over your head like so, then tie it around your back like this,” Cecile demonstrated how to do it while Elio watched in fascination. “Then this big bit at the front is there they would go. That way, you can swim around and still use your arms but have them close to you when they get tired or are sleeping.”

“Ah, I’ve seen merfolk use something like this before,” Tytus piped up, moving closer to take it from Cecile as he examined it. “Some I’ve seen use wide bits of kelp or woven sargassum. I’ve even seen a couple of breeders make use of a human fishing net cut down to size and lined with kelp or something soft to stop the nets chafing. Nice one, Cecile.”

“You’re welcome.” Cecile couldn’t help the bloom of pride she felt sweep through her. Getting Tytus’ approval on something? This was definitely a first. She sat back a little and watched Elio place the sling around himself, making sure it was tight enough around his middle and snug enough so the hatchlings couldn’t slip out of it. He immediately tested it out and Cecile watched in delight that it worked.

“Wow, this is great! Thanks Cecile.” She ruffled his wet hair a little at the compliment.

“My pleasure, _mon cœur.”_ She sat with the little family for a while longer until the sun had set and the water had enough of a chill to it that she was forced to get out. Her fingers and toes had long since gone wrinkly after being submerged for so long and she was now in dire need of a shower and some dinner. She left them to it, watching as tails of gold and silver flipped above the surface for a moment before they disappeared underneath. The next time she saw them do that, she wanted it to be in the ocean where they belonged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The mid to late 80s of Fahrenheit is roughly the late 20s/early 30s of Celsius. Even though nearly all of the world uses the metric system in that regard (myself included), I had Cecile use Fahrenheit purely for the realism of her living in the USA for so long and subsequently having adopted that system.
> 
>  _Merde!_ = Shit!
> 
> Also, I apologise for anyone not enjoying/finding irritating the constant switching between happy mer moments and obtrusive human moments (with the exception of Cecile sometimes). It's a hugely essential requirement to juxtapose the two sides and WILL change eventually. Your thoughts are welcomed, as always.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cecile discovers Jamie's plan, forcing her to act sooner than she thought - but is she too late?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Violence, cruelty to merfolk and some angst. Penultimate chapter guys, brace yourselves! We are on the homestretch and the finish line is in sight.

Cecile had never seen Jamie on the phone so much and when he wasn’t, he was glued to his computer screen like the secrets of the universe were displayed in front of him. His personal laptop never left his side and he opened it often to check something when he wasn’t simply carrying it under his arm. Darren noticed it, Cecile noticed it and definitely all the other staff who saw him most noticed it, yet nobody said a thing. Of course they wouldn’t, was business was it of theirs? Who in their right mind would question their boss and what had him so interested? He definitely wasn’t in any hurry to share, which had Cecile’s hackles rising. The computer at his desk and laptop he carried were linked with the same details, the same files and when he wasn’t walking around the facility doing whatever it was he needed to do that day, he was sitting behind his desk and typing so fast in response to emails it was like he was trying to set a personal record.

His concentration, usually so apt at listening to everything in a room at once, waivered a little when he was looking at a computer screen. Just what was it that he was reading? Who was he talking to? Cecile was sure that if the situation was reversed, he would demand, _order,_ to know what was going on. If he wasn’t going to share, Cecile decided she simply had to find out for herself.

The situation presented itself on a rare occasion that had Jamie without his precious laptop while he was called to attend something at the main desk.

“If you’re going, do it now. I can see him from here.” Darren hushed into his cell phone so low it was almost inaudible, but on the other end Cecile heard loud and clear. There were no cameras in Jamie’s office – why would he need to monitor his own space? The lack of that in Jamie’s office was so perfect, it made Cecile want to hoot in glee. However, she focused on the task at hand and keeping her own phone to her ear, she quickly went from her office to Jamie’s down the hall without being spotted by anyone. A lot of the staff were still away, so it could be the case that Jamie was simply picking up the work that they would have been doing, but that didn’t seem like something he would do. Something didn’t feel right, her gut feeling was that something was going on.

Jamie’s office was as tidy as ever, pleasantly cool with the air-con blowing on low and the blinds pulled down enough that the afternoon sun only just got through. Cecile hurried over to his desk, quickly making sure that there was nothing that he might notice that had moved or was out of place. Jamie almost had OCD with how straight and even everything was, so it was easy enough for Cecile to not touch anything that she didn’t need to. 

His laptop was open, reports and files of running costs of the facility were nothing she hadn’t seen before. He had several tabs open on the internet, a couple of pdf files on the go and the laptop’s antivirus doing a background scan whilst the machine was idle.

“He’s left it open, his laptop.” Cecile put Darren on loudspeaker as she tentatively sat in the black leather chair and placed her phone down on the desk.

“And the computer?”

“No, it looks off,” she moved the mouse and the computer’s black screen jumped to life. “Shit, it was just asleep. Nothing open on it though.” There was nothing of note left open on the computer which just left the laptop.

“Hurry, Cecile.”

“I am, I am.” The laptop did not have a mouse connected, so she quickly used the touchpad and opened Jamie’s emails. As she expected, they were neatly ordered into topics and folders, making it easier for him to find things. There were several recently opened ones however, a company name she hadn’t seen or so much as heard of before in the email domain. She scanned down the email conversation, noticing how it dated back _months,_ perhaps longer but she didn’t have the time to check. Cecile snapped a photo of the company name, taking a few more of the correspondence just in case.

“Found anything?”

“Found who he’s been emailing so much, some company in Japan by the address but I’ve never heard of it before. They’ve just been talking about merfolk and what he’s been up to. The hatchlings too. Maybe this is the new sponsor?”

“Keep looking, there’s got to be something else.” Cecile could hear the collected calm in Darren’s voice, something she simply didn’t reciprocate right at this moment. Her heart was racing wildly in her chest with just how much she was breaking the rules. It was oddly exciting, snooping into Jamie’s personal computer like this, but absolutely terrifying at the same time. 

Seconds ticked by, the only sound in the office was of the air-con fans, the tapping of the laptop’s touchpad and the background noise from Darren’s side of the call where he was in the main lobby. Cecile was about to give up when a new email came in from the company Jamie had been talking to. She opened it without hesitation, finding very little in the way of words but for one paragraph;

_Dr Averton,_

_Please see the attached with the required signatures from our side. Check your bank. We look forward to doing business with you._

_Regards,_

_Dr K. F. Aizawa_

Two attached pdf files came with the email and Cecile felt her heart leap into her throat. She could feel sweat forming on her brow, fingernails pushing into her palms as she took a deep steadying breath but it came out shaky and ragged.

“Cecile? What’s wrong?” She didn’t answer Darren, simply clicked open the files. Legal jargon flooded her vision, dates and contracts carefully written. The file was large, several pages long of nothing but text, certain areas highlighted as if in importance. Cecile could see Jamie’s name, his signature and the dates he had done it, could see the eye watering sum of money that the contract summarised as the total and spied two other different signatures counter-balancing the contract and making it official. It was signing something off, signing something as bought…sold…

_“Two mer hatchlings, one alpha male and one breeder female…”_

Cecile felt her jaw drop, her eyes widen.

_“Bonded pair of merfolk at Averton Facility of Marine Conservation agrees to continue the breeding of a second set of hatchlings in the following year; 2022…”_

Cecile couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t move.

_“…hatchlings are to be transported together, escorted via ocean freight and not by air on the agreed date above and not a day later…”_

“Cecile, he’s coming back up, you have to get out of there now!” But Cecile didn’t register Darren’s warning, didn’t hear his panic rising. All she could feel was white hot anger, the initial shock making her stomach feel tight and her blood cold. She felt sick, her throat tight and burning with the desire to cough up everything she had eaten that day. Jamie was…he was…

“Darren,” she whispered, her voice hoarse like she had been shouting. “He’s going to sell them, there’s a contact…he’s selling the hatchlings…he’s-”

“Cecile, you have got to get out of his office! Jamie is in the elevator!”

“I just can’t believe it…why would he do this?”

“We’ll figure that out later but we won’t be able to if you don’t move _now!”_

_“Merde,_ yes, yes I’m going, I’m just printing this out-”

“Oh God, Cecile, fucking hurry up! Elio needs you.” Cecile had never moved so fast in her life. Her Elio, perfect innocent Elio, his mate and his children needed her. She hung up the call, shoving the phone into her pocket and printing the contracts off. The email was flipped back to unread, everything set back just the way it had been found as Cecile stood by the printer and waited for the excruciating seconds it took for the machine to print the contracts out. She snatched them from the tray and raced to the door.

The elevator at the end of the corridor pinged with their intent to open just as she slipped past her own office door and pushed it almost shut. If she closed it now, it would click and be too obvious that she had just entered it, so Cecile stuffed the papers in her hand into the inside pocket of a coat that had been hanging on the back of her door for so long she couldn’t even remember buying it. Hovering in the middle of the space like a deer in headlights, Jamie’s footsteps sounded in the corridor, his coat whooshing as he walked past without stopping and the familiar scent of his cologne tickled the back of her nose.

When the sound of his office door closing chimed in her ears, Cecile finally shut hers and sagged to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. All the air rushed out of her, adrenaline dissipating so quickly the world went a little dark at the edges as her back touched the solid wooden door; the only thing keeping her upright. She was sweating, regardless of the chilliness of the office air-con working hard in here too which had the sweat on her stick like a second skin, cooling rapidly. Cecile drew slow breaths, her hands shaking as she ran them through her greying hair. The working day was almost over, she needed to get the hell out of here and back to relative safety of Darren’s apartment so she could read what she had printed off.

A light rap at her door made her jump, scrambling backwards as she stood and tried to make herself look presentable.

“Cecile? It’s me.” _Darren._

Cecile opened the door and he barrelled inside, quickly shutting it behind him. “Fucking hell, I nearly had a heart attack down there but it looks like you might’ve had one too. What the hell happened?”

“Not here,” Cecile shushed him when he tried to question her again. “Please, Darren. Not here, we can’t. We’ll speak later, alright?” He didn’t look satisfied but thankfully, he nodded. “Here, take this so it looks like you came here for something if anyone asks or saw.” Cecile shoved a little desk fan she wasn’t sure even worked into his hands and he promptly left the room.

In the quiet that followed Darren’s departure from her office, Cecile bit the inside of her cheek so hard she tasted blood. There was a ringing in her ears and her stomach ached like she had a stitch from running. The huge amount of information she had just discovered was life-changing. It was monumental to her cause and utterly damaging for Elio and Tytus. Cecile kept herself in check as best she could for the rest of the day, managing to avoid Jamie and only letting herself relax when she was sitting at Darren’s dining table in his cosy kitchen. He had made a simple stir fry for them both, but she could barely swallow a single bite before her stomach complained, tensing in anxiety.

With dinner abandoned, they went over what exactly Jamie had been doing.

“It’s a marine institution, a bit like ours but based out of Japan. They have offices in China, Thailand and even one in the US on the western coast. It looks pretty…normal, dare I say it.” Darren scrolled through said normal looking website of the marine facility that had come up under the Google search of its name.

“It’s a front, just like this place,” Cecile sighed as she looked over the contracts in front of them, splayed out on the table. “I’m surprised I’ve never heard of it though.”

“Maybe it’s under a new name? I haven’t heard of it either. Doesn’t say if it had been though.”

“Yeah well it wouldn’t, would it? With enough money you can do anything.” That was painfully obvious now, the evidence of that staring at them in the face and daring them to say otherwise.

“So,” Darren moved his laptop aside and picked up what appeared to be the starting page. “He’s agreed with this company to sell the hatchlings and have them sent abroad by the end of November. It’s the middle of October, we have literally weeks. What the actual _fuck?”_

“We have to do this tomorrow.”

“What?”

“We have to do this tomorrow,” Cecile repeated. “I can’t wait anymore. I am not letting Jamie do this.”

“Whoa, Cecile, slow down and listen to yourself. You’re panicking and-”

“I am not panicking, I am _calm,_ I’ve just had enough of all this!” Cecile snapped, interrupting him before he could try and persuade her otherwise. “I just can’t do this anymore, Darren. What are we waiting for? We have everything we need and _this,”_ she waved the papers in the air, “this is the icing on the cake. This is going to bury this place so far under that it will never be able to surface again.” She sat back in her chair, the scent of soy sauce and fried vegetables still lingering in the air. This had to be the way out, the only way out.

“Cecile,” Darren started but he stopped, words ceasing to flow as he looked at her. Cecile knew how she must look right now; she had hardly been eating, picking at things like a bird and not being able to stomach much more than chicken and rice. There were dark circles under her eyes and it was obvious she had lost weight yet concealed it with her lab coat and flowing trousers. 

“How have we let this happen?” Cecile wondered aloud, not looking at Darren as she spoke. “How we have gone from simply admiring what Elio and his kind are, to trying to take them apart piece by piece? Are we really that savage?” God, she was crying again. Cecile felt like she had cried more in the last few months than she had in her entire life, her head already aching from the action of it with dragging waves of dull pain that raked from her eyes to the back of her head. Her throat felt tight like it was constricting, a snake around her neck and pulling itself taught. She was dropping into a pit of grief with no end in sight, hopelessness tugging at her like a thousand fingers snagging in her hair and clothes. It was like running through a field of grass which was slowly turning to brambles and mud with every step she took, how long before she would be stuck? Now that she was crying for what felt like the millionth time, it was difficult to stop no matter how awkward and embarrassed she felt to be falling apart in front of a colleague. Darren was kind and understanding regardless, he was on her side, but it still didn’t help or make it any better. Instead, Cecile covered her face in her hands and forced herself to calm down before she sank into hysterics. Crying wasn’t going to help, even if it made her feel the tiniest bit better with each time she did it, even for a few minutes.

Darren listened quietly, allowing Cecile her moment of despair for so long she felt the room become brighter in the kitchen with the artificial light as the natural light outside disappeared for another day. “All right,” he cleared his throat and sat up a little straighter. “We do this tomorrow. Use my printer here, it does the lot, scan all this to my personal email, send everything off tonight and this time tomorrow, we get them the hell out of here.”

“Thank you,” Cecile felt the air rush out of her lungs. “I really don’t know how else to thank you, I really don’t.” 

“There’s no need,” Darren held up his hand. “I knew Frank Averton too, remember? I can see him turning in his grave at what his son is doing. This has got to stop and it will.” He pointed in the direction of his fancy printer, scanner, whatever it was and then pushed the laptop towards Cecile. “Oh and I suggest you start packing tonight or at least first thing tomorrow. I booked us a flight to Honolulu and from there, we can sort how to receive a security escort under the protection of the law.” He had obviously been thinking about their long term situation a lot more than Cecile had, too wrapped up as she had been to get Elio and Tytus out of the tank and into the ocean.

_“Merde,_ I didn’t even think that far ahead,” she managed to huff out a pained laugh. “I owe you big time.”

Darren chuckled as he stood. “Don’t say that yet, we have a long way to go.” Yes, they really did.

Cecile got to work, scanning the documents to the laptop and finalising the draft email that she had been compiling for the last few weeks. It had everything; photos, videos, reports, charts, the seven years’ worth of satellite tracking data on Tytus’ annual migration. The works. Cecile had gone as far back as finding the old photos and information on Elio’s mother, whoever she had been, and the awful condition they had found her in. She had been beautiful too, fins just like her son’s but a darker silver in colour. It had Cecile wondering if all the merfolk were naturally physically attractive, far more so than humans on an average scale. The last things she attached were the contracts, bound in blood as they might as well be, attaching them in a compressed zip file with everything else, along with where they would be in more or less approximately twenty-four hours.

The very moment she pressed _send_ was like time stood still. The email took agonising seconds, close to a minute before it went from the “outbox” to “sent” and only when it did, Cecile slumped in her chair. Now it was a waiting game, until her phone buzzed. Darren’s head snapped to attention at the sound from where he was over by the kettle making tea, a tense moment of eye contact between them at the timing. There was no way already…

But no, it was Jamie with a text message, summoning her to Elio’s enclosure immediately. Cecile did not ignore the sense of dread in her stomach at the late hour and urgency of the text and grabbing her coat, Darren switched everything off and followed her out of the door.

*******

Floodlights bathed the enclosure’s area in a brightness with such intensity, the tank floor looked white instead of the usual blue. The water was a mass of splashing, the air filled with the strange screeching hiss with only one thing capable of making such a noise. Nets had been flung into the water, weighed down at their edges with heavy bits of metal that made whatever it would catch sink like a stone to the ground. Cecile could see Elio underneath it even through the rippled surface, the lights above and below reflecting off his emerald scales. It was Tytus who was hissing, _screaming,_ as he thrashed violently, a whaling harpoon, hooked so it was difficult to pull back out, embedded through the base of his tail at the juncture where it turned into golden fins. The water was turning a dark purple where he bled, but he didn’t seem to pay his wound any mind. Even through the cascading water, Cecile could see him reaching for Elio, stuck at the bottom of the tank.

A quick scan of the area and she spied the man with a dart gun, a tranquiliser, and this time they had chosen Elio as their target. Several men kept a hold of the line attached to the harpoon, trying to pull Tytus back and attach it to a section of the wall where a little metal hook was waiting for it. Through the doors just behind her, Cecile watched in horror as a much smaller version of the original holding tank was wheeled in, like a glass fish tank with its water sloshing around inside it. Her stomach dropped to her feet and she locked eyes with Jamie on the other side of the enclosure. He was against the wall on the far side, on the little sandy area that trees and shrubs grew from and hung over the water. The view was obviously better up there and when his icy eyes caught hers, Cecile didn’t look away. She felt nothing but fury flowing in her veins and she did everything she could to push that feeling out through her eyes, hoped with everything she had that Jamie would feel it. He frowned a little, but otherwise did nothing but finally look back down to the scene before them all.

Three divers rolled backwards off the lower wall and into the water, quickly righting themselves and making their way down to where Elio lay unconscious and unmoving. The fact that he had been tranquilised, the net to keep him still, Tytus injured and held in place, the divers, the small tank…

They were going to take the hatchlings. They were separating them from their parents and there was nothing Cecile could do in that moment to stop it.

The next moment things were happening so fast yet oddly slow at the same time. Tytus whirled on himself, body bending in half with the flexibility of a gymnast as he grabbed a hold of the wire connecting the harpoon and _pulled,_ yanked it so hard with a roar that all seven of the men on the other end of it were powerless to the sudden forward momentum they found themselves in. Three of them fell into the tank, the others managing to catch themselves on their knees or hit the wall before they went any further but the three that went over, were quickly submerged in Tytus’ world. There was screaming on all sides as panic erupted. Whilst two of the men surfaced almost immediately and yelled for help, one of them didn’t. Cecile held her breath the way the man underwater must have been doing to save his own life, yet it did nothing when blood exploded in a slow motion fountain within the viscosity of the water. As the water calmed the slightest, she saw Tytus rear back from the neck of the man he had caught and he pushed him away, turning tail and charging at the divers.

The bubbles from their oxygen tanks tripled as they screamed, two of them pulling knives from somewhere and holding them out at arms’ length. They were nothing against the speed and agility of a creature as deadly as a shark and as fast as a sailfish. Tytus easily swerved their flailing knife swipes and bit down into the arm of one of the men and thrashed like a dog, blood blooming from the wound and obscuring their vision of him.

The strange sound of a _bang_ and a _whoosh_ perforated the air as two more harpoon guns were fired. One missed and the other sank through Tytus’ scales not far from where the first one had hit. Even through the water, Cecile heard him shriek and saw as he bent around to grab at it, attempting to pull it free. His momentary lapse of concentration gave the third diver the chance to push off the tank floor and make for the beach. He was holding something and Cecile felt herself cry out when she saw it was Neri in one hand and Kaius in the other. She was moving forwards without realising when people blocked her way, held her back.

_“No!_ What are you doing? Stop it!” Cecile screamed and pushed into their attempts to stop her getting through as someone ran forward to take the babies and quickly place them in the small tank. A hand encircled her waist, half lifting her up and she was about to swing her elbow back into whoever’s face it was when she heard Darren at her ear.

“Not here, Cecile, not here. Please!” he begged quietly but his voice was tight with barely restrained rage. “You’ll only make it worse.” He was right, but she still wrenched herself from his grasp and he let her go. Clapping her hands over her mouth, Cecile flattened herself against the wall as she watched the hatchlings start to be wheeled away. They were crying, that much she could hear through the glass, a bewilderingly human-like sound that had Cecile ready to start begging on her knees to Jamie for him to stop this.

He was moving around the side of the tank now, actively getting involved instead of simply ordering people about. The diver who had retrieved the hatchlings was still pulling himself out, shimmying himself backwards and kicking the fins attached to his feet to assist with the movement, but he wasn’t fast enough… 

Cecile had seen orcas hunt seal lion pups on a beach in Argentina. They speared the water with such speed, their bulk wasn’t revealed until the last moment and by then it was too late. She was reminded of that now, as even with two harpoons stuck in him, Tytus’ dorsal fin was the only thing on show as it whipped through the water, cutting through it until he burst from the artificial waves and descended upon the diver trying to escape. He bit into the meat of his thigh and sharply tore to the left, the skin and neoprene of the wetsuit tearing like paper. The scream of agony was gurgled but swiftly silenced as the man was dragged backwards into the water, blood soaking the sand and adding to what was already colouring it into a sickly shade of dark purple as the blood of humans mer alike mixed in the surf. 

The man who had fired the tranquiliser at Elio reloaded and took aim at Tytus this time, landing a perfect shot to the mer’s neck as he surfaced for a moment. Tytus hissed like a snake, all fangs and serrated teeth that disappeared below the surface as he became limp, the captured diver quickly pushing himself out of his hold and back to the surface. He was hauled from the water, the huge gash in his leg pouring blood in such a way that it made Cecile feel a little sick just looking at it. There were medics everywhere, seeing to everyone who had been hurt and starting to take them away to be better looked at.

Cecile kept out of their way, moving along the wall in what felt like a daze. This couldn’t be real, this wasn’t happening. Whatever they had given Elio obviously wasn’t strong enough to completely take him out like it had with Tytus, the latter of the two lying motionless on the tank floor face down. The water calmed and even through the murk, she watched Elio weakly pushed the nets off him when he caught the edge, whirling in place like a drunken sailor, before he swam up to the surface. When he did so, it was just in time to see the hatchlings leave the enclosure space through the doors.

“No!” He screamed, lurching forwards up the beach and trying to drag himself ashore. His claws sank into the bloody sand as he tried and failed to get much further than halfway out with his strength failing him so. “Give them back! Don’t take them from me, _please!”_

Cecile ran to him, pushing someone out of the way but she didn’t see who. When he saw her, Elio reached for her with what strength he could muster and he collapsed into her arms, sobbing into her chest. “Shh, _mon cœur,_ I’ve got you.”

Elio was murmuring _please_ over and over, the water from him soaking her. There was a tranquiliser dart just under his right shoulder blade and without thinking, she pulled it out of him. Elio did little to react but sob harder, his claws shredding her lab coat as he curled his fists into them. Jamie came into her field of vision as she held Elio to her, one hand on the back of his head and running through his wet hair. She looked up at him, teeth gritting and glaring as much spite as she could.

“What have you done?” She hissed at him.

“I am securing the future of this place. Of all our futures.” He replied as coolly and plainly as if nothing had happened, as if he hadn’t just torn a family apart. He was half soaked with sand in his hair and the end of his own lab coat was stained with watered down blood, making Cecile realise it was him she had pushed out of the way to get to Elio with such force he had clearly hit the ground. The little pleased buzz she felt wasn’t enough to make her cheer up, but she clung to it nonetheless. She said nothing at Jamie’s response, did nothing but keep holding Elio close and offer as much comfort to him as she could to the one she felt was a son to her. Jamie whirled around and walked off but not before biting out that she wouldn’t be leaving the enclosure until the place was cleaned up.

Silence, but for the quiet sobs of Elio and the ringing in her own ears, as everyone cleared out and left Cecile feeling defeated in a way she never had before. They were too late, _she_ was too late. How were they supposed to win this battle now? Jamie had dragged Darren off with him and she was alone with the two mer.

“I knew something would happen,” Elio’s voice was hardly a whisper, so quiet she almost didn’t hear it. “I was stupid to think he just wanted us to breed and watch them grow up. I was a fool to be complacent and this…this is my fault.”

“Oh no, Elio, this is not your fault. Don’t you dare think that way! Not now, not ever.”

“How can I not?” He looked up finally, eyes red and watery with such a look of hopelessness in his face that Cecile had to emotionally fight off the feeling it gave her lest she be consumed by it.

“I’m going to get you out of here,” she pressed her forehead to Elio’s as spoke as low as she could. “All of you. This ends now.”

“What are you talking about?” He matched her low pitch, eyes searching hers and filling her vision from their position. Cecile cupped his cheeks in her hands.

“I’m getting your babies back, then I’m taking you out of here, all of you. Darren and I have a plan, it’s going to be alright.”

“Take us where?”

“…the ocean, _mon cœur._ I’m taking you home.” Elio stared at her, sitting up so he could see her better. “I can’t do it until tomorrow night, especially because now I need to find out what Jamie is doing but…I promise you, I _will_ see this through. No matter what it takes.”

Elio nodded slowly, was about to speak when Tytus burst from the water and crashed onto the shore. Elio jumped in surprise, his sideways movement unfortunately clearing the way for the enraged alpha mer to launch himself at Cecile and pin her to the ground. Her head hit the sandy ground hard, vision darkening for a moment before she felt Tytus subdue her with his full weight so she couldn’t kick out. Both of his clawed hands encircled her neck and began to squeeze, hard enough that breathing was difficult but not completely impaired.

“Where is he taking them?” He screamed in her face, a mix of a human words and animalistic hissing. The otherworldly strength that had almost crushed the bones in her wrist all those months ago was now stealing the air from her lungs.

“I…I don’t-”

“Tell me!” He shook her a little, her head banging into the sand again and making her vision spin with the lack of air. Cecile coughed, spluttered as she tried to get the words out. It was already night but the world was getting darker, the sight of Tytus seething in her face getting blurrier by the second. Cecile could hear the blood rushing in her ears, feel the way her heart was racing in her chest and her lungs burning with the need to breathe. She didn’t hear what Elio said to Tytus, could only just make out the hand on the alpha’s shoulder pulling him back. When his hands fell away and her trachea was clear once more, Cecile sucked in a lungful of air and rolled onto her side as she gasped.

“Cecile?” Elio pulled himself further out of the water and rested a hand on her shoulder. “Cecile? Say something.”

“I’m…fine. I deserved that…I did…” A little punishment was definitely due, at least in Cecile’s mind it was.

A steady and low growl broke the air, Tytus clearly not ready to back down. He had possibly killed up to three people tonight, the venom in his bite already flowing in their veins and working through their systems. The man he had first taken down had had his throat ripped out, so he was definitely a goner and the diver whose leg he had mauled looked to have had his femoral artery torn. The one who had gotten his arm bitten appeared to be the luckiest one out of them, all things considered. But in that moment, Cecile did not care for them or how much they suffered; they had assisted in injuring Tytus and taking the hatchlings away.

Slowly sitting up, Cecile kept her hands up as if in surrender, watching Tytus and the way he barely held himself in check at the request of Elio. Despite the injuries he had, his tail swished side to side in the water, still bleeding but otherwise not impairing him. It reminded Cecile of a pissed off cat and the way they flicked the tips of their tails when they wanted some peace and quiet.

“Please listen,” Cecile began as her voice returned to her. “I have a plan.” She explained it, as quietly as possible whilst still wary of the cameras although she doubted they would be able to pick up anything at this volume. It was likely Jamie was watching and wondering if she was about to die. Nobody had come to her rescue when Tytus had his hands around her throat, so at this point she felt extremely expendable. It didn’t matter, none of it did.

Tytus visibly relaxed but didn’t move from his aggressive stance. Elio kept running a hand up and down his back, over the spines in his dorsal fin as if they barely hurt him at all. He was overcome with grief again when Cecile said she would find out where their hatchlings had been taken, nuzzling into Tytus’ side as the alpha comforted him as best as he could without visibly breaking down himself. Elio cried, Tytus raged.

Raking the blood in the sand from the beach and fiddling with the controls to push through the filtration of the tank so it sucked the blood away faster, Cecile watched the transition from what looked like a murder scene to some sense of normality. She was numb as she worked, the hollow in her stomach only widening as she watched Elio and Tytus swim together around in the tank in endless circles and the strange clicking hiss Tytus often used was suddenly being made by Elio himself. Cecile recognised it for what it was, its pitch different and drawn out, almost a wail.

A mer-song of sorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooof, sorry about that. I am about to make up for it big time, I swear xD


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cecile puts her plan into action; will Elio and Tytus swim free?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _What does the cup of ocean hold? Glory of purple and glint of gold;  
>  Tenderest greens and heavenly blue, shot with the sunlight through and through;  
> Wayward ripples that idly roam, tumbling breakers with gallant foam;  
> Sands and pebbles that chase and slide, mystic currents that softly glide;  
> Mighty spell of the ages old, this does the cup of ocean hold._
> 
> _The Cup of Ocean_ \- Amos Russel Wells (1862 - 1933)

Elio kept his eyes open until he couldn’t anymore. Tytus stayed awake with him, following him in their circling of the tank like they had done so every day together. But Elio wasn’t doing it for exercise this time, but for purely of a lack of a better thing to do. He didn’t have legs, he wasn’t a human and so was confined to the tank and holding out the most fragile tendril of hope that Cecile could help him, help them. The tank had always been a prison of sorts, but now the ability Elio had created to carefully ignore that fact as he had gone about his day before he had met Tytus, had completely and totally crashed around him.

He was hollow, a piece of him missing. The humans might as well have cut off his fins or simply taken his entire tail for how he felt. The babies had only just stopped nursing, they _needed_ him. He couldn’t so much as look at the sling without bursting into tears so Tytus had placed it on the beach where it slowly dried in the warming air as morning came. Elio clung to Tytus until utter exhaustion came to claim him, the only thing that would make him fall asleep. He had wrapped Tytus’ wounds with a large piece of kelp, pulling it tight to stop the bleeding. As the adrenaline had worn off, it was obvious the alpha was in pain regardless of how he shrugged it off so Elio took care of him, hands moving mechanically as he pulled the harpoons free and wrapped his mate’s injuries.

The events of the night replayed behind Elio’s closed eyelids over and over. He slept restlessly, seeing the sight of blood, so much blood in the water as it spread outwards and threatened to stain the entire tank with its foul colour. Human blood smelt awful, his senses recoiling in disgust as the metallic taste of iron filled his nose and made him want to gag. It was a relief when whatever Cecile had done to the pumps had chased it all away and he could breathe better. He could still hear the echo of the humans yelling, the sound of the doors banging open and their footsteps up above. They had all been asleep in the cave until the cacophony of sound had woken them up, Neri and Kaius fussing at being disturbed and Tytus hissing in suspicion that something was going on. He had gone to investigate when everything had lit up. The entire tank bathed in such white light that it percolated into the cave. Elio had shielded the hatchlings from it, turning his back to it as he tucked them into the sling and used some kelp to hide them better so the light wouldn’t hurt their eyes. It was when he had turned that the first harpoon had struck Tytus which caused him to make that awful screech that Elio could hardly stand to hear. It unsettled him, went deep into his core and identified itself as something that should never be heard. When Elio had rushed to help him, the nets had fallen from above and the world went dark as the tranquiliser he felt land somewhere in his back seeped its effects into him.

It felt like a dream, it didn’t feel real when he closed his eyes. When he had slept enough to chase the exhaustion away, he found Tytus awake. Dark circles lined his eyes and the usual bright gold held no glint or sparkle. Elio doubted that he looked much better himself.

“Do you know of how merfolk came to be?” Tytus’ deep voice was strained with the harsh vocalising he had been doing, vocal chords recovering from the workout but he still managed to speak.

Elio shook his head.

“It’s perhaps a bit of a myth with how it’s changed over the years, but the base of it still holds.” Elio tucked his face into the crook of Tytus’ neck as he listened quietly. “Would you be surprised to hear that the first of the mer were actually humans? I was, but I suppose it does make sense in a way as we at least share some physical similarities. There was an island nation once, proud and strong and wealthy, they often thought themselves better than anyone else. They fought in wars with other nations who tried to claim their island and take it from those who lived there, but it was protected by the sea, the only way to reach it was days and days of travelling in a ship and by then, anyone approaching would be seen well in advance. Their hubris blinded them and when their army left the island to wage a war elsewhere, they lost. With nothing left to protect them, the humans there fell out of favour with their deities and overseers in the sky as fire rained from it and brought destruction and famine. The island began to sink, so they turned to the ocean for help. The king of the island begged the ocean for mercy, for his people’s wrongdoings and promised that if the ocean spared them, they would be better in their next life.”

Elio closed his eyes at Tytus’ soft voice and the way it calmed him. He could envision the island and its greenery, the way it contrasted with the blue of the water.

“The ocean took pity on the humans as their island sank into itself. It was no more a piece of land that the ocean caressed each day, it was now becoming a part of the great body of water it floated upon but there was still life up above. So it offered the humans sanctuary, but they could not remain the way they were. _You don’t need legs,_ the ocean said. _What good are those when you need not walk?_ So the ocean changed them, fused their legs into tails and gave them gills to breathe so they wouldn’t drown. They adapted to life in the ocean and set the tide for everyone that followed. The ocean felt good that it had saved so many, it was no reprieve for all those it had taken when it was possessed by the wind or pushed by the earth deep underneath it, but it was something that the ocean would always remember doing. It vowed to save those who needed saving, give a new life to those who sought one elsewhere.”

Elio felt himself lost in the story. It didn’t matter if it was true or not, it had a happy ending for the island nation, the ocean choosing to save some when it could so easily have swallowed them into its watery depths. 

“Do you…do you think we will get the chance to tell Neri and Kaius that tale?”

“Of course we will,” Tytus reassured. “You can be the one to tell it when we do.”

Maybe it was hopeless, maybe it wasn’t, but the assertive tone of voice that Tytus held gave Elio a small spark of confidence. He had to be strong, but it was so difficult to hold fast. Cecile had once said it was always easier to give in that it was to hope for something better – maybe that was why she was still here for him? She could have left, she could have been like all the other humans here with their beady eyes and hushed whispers that promised pain in every form.

But she wasn’t. Cecile had kept a bit of hope in her heart just for him, and Elio would be damned he didn’t want to do the same for her, the same for himself.

He caught that glimmer of hope in his chest and captured it in the depths of him, locking it away like an oyster hides a pearl until the right moment came for it to be revealed.

*******

“We are entering a new era of merfolk research,” Jamie announced to the boardroom of his most senior team. “With the funding we have been provided and all the permissions granted, we can secure the future of this facility for many years to come, make new discoveries of an aquatic nation that has been existing in the waters of this planet for innumerable years. Evolution has granted them a life unlike any other in this world, an adaptability that takes the best of both the life we know and the life below the surface. Yet it favoured the ocean, life chose the water as their future. Just what will learn in twenty, forty or even sixty years? When the Earth is too hot and the weather too fierce, when the rivers dry up and the crops don’t grow, where will we turn?” He pointed out the window to the South Pacific. “The answer is out there, _down_ there. The future isn’t within the incessant search of some interstellar dimension. It’s right here, on this planet, in our oceans that encompass most of it. We have better maps of the surface of Mars than we do our own seven seas, why do you think that is?” He paused to look around the room, icy eyes catching Cecile’s for a moment. “We have been too busy looking up, when we should have been looking down. If you need any further proof than that, then just what are you doing here?”

Nobody answered him, nobody needed to. The hum of allied whispers and murmuring was all the confirmation that everyone, _almost_ everyone, was in complete agreement with Jamie Averton. He looked just as pleased with himself as he often did, particularly when he had everyone’s attention. His speech was bold and it took hold of the beliefs and facts and threw speculation out of the window. They were here because merfolk were real, not the myths that humankind had always thought them to be and maybe one day, the entire world would know about them instead of a privileged select few. Cecile knew how she felt about that now and it was the complete opposite to how she would have felt six months ago.

Things change.

Jamie went over what these future plans were and just how he had gone about securing this mysterious extra funding. He dared anyone in the room to oppose him on the selling of the hatchlings and although nobody did, there were flickers of disparity in some faces. A twitch of the eyes, a furrowing of the brow, a slight tilt of the head. Were they the actions of somebody who thought what was being done was wrong but felt they couldn’t do anything to stop it? Cecile didn’t know, wondered if that was how she had looked once; tongue-tied and incorrigible.

When the room emptied, Cecile did not give Jamie the chance to catch her on the way out as he liked to do. She headed straight down to where the little mer were being kept and was glad for Darren at her back. She pushed down the sick feeling in her gut as the mezzanine floor came into view, the exact same room at the end of the corridor where Tytus had first been kept was now the place his children were being held too. It was ironic, she thought, that this was where it had begun.

And where it would end. 

Neri and Kaius had curled around each other at the bottom of the tank, pushed themselves into a corner to seem as small as possible. Their colours had really come in to almost halfway down their tails, fins still staying a neutral colour for the moment but that would surely change. The most delicate stage of their lives had only just finished; they were now interested in fish and crab and squid the same way that their parents were, so their colouring need not be so plain. They were fast, like watching a startled goldfish dart from one end to the other as Cecile had seen them utterly confused by the glass tank. They could see the outside, but they couldn’t go to it, however it hadn’t taken them long to figure it out. Cecile had to keep reminding herself that although they were still fragile, they were not like the three week old human babies they physically represented. Those similarities stopped at their physical attributes. It had Cecile wondering if this really was evolution somehow like Jamie and many others here believed it to be, or was it something else entirely that made merfolk so advanced so quickly? Deadly and beautiful and strange all rolled into one.

Neri recognised Cecile when she looked up with eyes that resembled her mother’s. Pressing a hand to the glass, Cecile smiled at the infant who despite what had happened to her, she grinned a toothless smile back and shifted from her brother’s side to move closer. The water of the tank had been filled further up, brimming at the top to compensate for their requirement of not being able to breathe the oxygen in the air. Elio’s confirmation that they were unable to do so had Cecile firmly believing the equivalent of oxygen toxicity in humans would occur if they even so much as breached the surface and took a breath. So the tank was full to bursting, the slight movements from the hatchlings making it threaten to spill over.

“How are we going to get them out?” Darren whispered.

“This thing is the same as what Tytus was in, just on a smaller scale.” It was even on wheels to make it easier to move around. “I would say we will have just a few minutes to spare. I found the sling on the beach so if Elio takes that back when they’re in the container, we can pour this straight into it and he can keep them under the surface from there.” Cecile kept her voice as low as possible.

“I guess,” Darren replied. “I’m nervous. I feel like he knows after this stunt and his announcement this morning.”

“Jamie has never truly paid attention to anyone here but himself,” Cecile deadpanned back at him. “And we can thank our lucky stars that he’s like that, otherwise…” she trailed off, not feeling the need to finish what she was implying. Darren simply nodded once. 

The day dragged on, leaving Cecile feeling like time had purposefully slowed because it knew she was in a hurry. Elio and Tytus kept swimming in circles, she made sure the hatchlings were fed and their water quality comfortable. She reported to Jamie on their condition and that of their parents, took his snarky comments in silence and made small talk with some of the other biologists. As each hour passed, Cecile felt more and more like a wound up coil, pulled so tight it would surely snap. Everything tested her patience, but she forced herself to stay calm. She could do this, she had to.

When the weather turned sour and rained the moment the sun went down, Cecile could’ve laughed out loud at its convenience, at the cover it might provide. It had her wondering if the elements really were alive like Tytus spoke of them to be. When it rained in Hawaii, it _rained._ Huge drops pelted the ground, pushed sideways by the wind so it would get right in your eyes. When Cecile stood in Darren’s apartment and saw the eager response to her email and information on who to look for when they reached Honolulu, she did not stop the tears of joy. If the escape failed, if they were caught and didn’t manage to return Elio and his family to the ocean, then at least the damage had already been done and maybe they could still eventually swim free.

“Are you ready?” Darren asked her as she stood by the Hilux and let the rain soak them through. Cecile had pulled her hair into a tight ponytail, dressed as neutrally as possible and pulled on an old pair of boots that still felt as comfortable as they had the first day she had put them on. Their bags were packed and in the front of the cab. The container previously used to move Tytus around was ready to be taken up to the enclosure from where it was located on the mezzanine floor and Darren was ready to drive the Hilux into position into the maintenance tunnel the moment Cecile disabled the cameras. She nodded at Darren’s earlier question and watched him drive off.

It was close to three in the morning and nobody was around as she followed the side road that led to the tunnel. Her pass let her through the electronic gates, Darren’s car lingering down the road and out of sight of any cameras. Cecile realised she would have to take the risk of being seen on the two that monitored the ramp in and out, but she could at least avoid the one sweeping left and right. Adrenaline raced through her, heart pounding so fiercely she could hear it beating in her ears and feel it at the back of her head. Although they might be a little useless at this point, Cecile wore gloves, some old black leather ones that added to the laughable image in her head of a cat burglar. Never in a million years did she ever think she would resort to extreme measures such as this. 

As she slipped through the doors and into the grey hallway, Cecile jogged along the wall to the control room. Light bounced off the walls inside from the countless screens of the cameras. Soft snoring could be heard, the night guard doing a fantastic job of being asleep. It saved Cecile from having to use the heavy torch strapped to her waist as a battering ram to his head to knock him out, the idea of a tiny bit of violence just the slightest bit exciting. Even if she had been seen, the amount of screens versus one pair of eyes, no matter how sharp she knew they were, was slim. Cecile held her breath as she switched off the required cameras, watching the screens go dark and turning a few others off for good measure. The mezzanine floor, the maintenance tunnel, the area leading to the enclosure and the enclosure area itself, were all out for the count.

Time was ticking.

She flash called Darren as she made her way back to the service deck, the relief at seeing Darren’s cab reversing down it so it was easier to drive out almost made her legs give out. A silent greeting of eye contact and then they were wheeling the container out of the holding tank room. It was heavy and sturdy, but mercifully quiet on its wheels. Cecile realised it would be heavier when it had water in it, but it would have to do for the extremely and hopefully short period of time it would be occupied. A peek in the holding tank room saw that the hatchlings had been sleeping soundly, snuggled together like they always seemed to do as to find comfort in the absence of their parents. _Not for much longer,_ Cecile thought to herself.

There were no cameras in the elevators and as it ascended to the area where Elio’s enclosure was but Cecile’s heart was in her throat. Her leg bounced on a heel and fingers drummed against the shiny metal surface of the container. Darren’s hand pressed against it and gave a squeeze. “We’re going to make it,” he whispered. “Trust yourself.” Cecile couldn’t form words when she felt about ready to cry for some reason, so she just smiled as much as she could, squeezing Darren’s hand back.

Elio and Tytus were already on the beach, swimming up and down the shore like patrolling sharks. The doors made a bit of noise as they opened, but the space that made up the tank’s area was otherwise quiet but for the sound of small rolling waves. Elio went to speak but Cecile held up a finger to her mouth and he stayed silent. Pushing the container into the water the same way they had done when moving Tytus around but this time, they pushed it so far in that it was partially submerged. Darren passed the sling to Elio who made quick work of tying it around himself and being the stronger when compared to Cecile, he assisted Elio as he was pulled into and over the doors that opened at the top. The sound of the water rushing in was loud, but there was nothing they could do about it now. Tytus followed without assistance as he pulled his bulk from the tank and into the container, quickly moving onto his side and bracing his arms around Elio.

“We have to shut the doors, so it’s going to get dark.” Cecile had already begun closing them when she saw the two mer nod in reassurance. “Let’s move!” She kept her voice as quiet but as urgent as she could manage as Darren pulled and Cecile pushed the container up and out of the water. Its wheels dragged along the mix of sand and shale, making it difficult to shift with the new extra weight that it was carrying, but they managed. The sound of the water sloshing inside and dripping from the sides onto the concrete was the loudest thing she had heard yet. 

The journey to the elevator was straightforward enough, the task of quickly and carefully pouring the water from the hatchlings tank into the container was simplified with the help of two beings with triple the strength of a man.

Elio couldn’t hold it in anymore when he saw his babies, emotions bursting like a dam. He flattened himself under the water and swiftly put them in the sling, both his arms encircling them close. Cecile could hear his sobbing of relief that they were reunited which made her own tears start falling.

Was this going too well? 

Cecile’s internal musings were answered as they had hardly got the container onto the back of the cab when the service doors they had come through burst open. Darren slammed the back of the cab shut to secure the container so it wouldn’t fall off the back and raced for driver’s seat. Cecile spun in place to see who it was and her heart plummeted when she saw Jamie with a member of the security team on either side of him. They were armed, one with a handgun and the other with what looked like the tranquiliser rifle. Jamie stepped forward to grip the railing of the service ramp that led down from the doors, pinning Cecile with a look that could level a mountain.

“And here’s the clever Cecile Landron, the one who works the hardest, has the most ambition,” he mocked his father’s admiration of her, making the security guards chuckle along with him. “How the mighty have fallen. Your pity for the creatures you have spent your life studying has finally won you over. It’s turned you from an accomplished marine biologist into a snivelling coward.”

“You’re the coward, Jamie. You’re the one who has let his own avarice blind him. Your cruelty, sadism and ignorance is over with.”

“Cruelty? Avarice?” He laughed with his head thrown back but there was no true mirth. “Do you hear yourself? Those things are the very meaning of humankind as a species, the things we have done in our past and what we must do for our future tread such a fine line I would pay good money to the one who can differentiate.” He moved down the ramp, the security flanking him. The one with the handgun pointing it at Darren who sat at the wheel and daring him to move.

“How can you not see what you’re doing is wrong?” Cecile questioned him further, _imploring_ him to understand. “So many hours ago you were saying that our future is in the ocean, that merfolk are practically the missing link to everything we seek. Do you think you can just come careening in and twist them into co-operating? Like you tried to do with Tytus? Like you have tried to do with Elio for his entire life?”

“I do _not_ need nor wish to hear an ecology lesson, especially from you.” He moved closer still, just a few feet away from Cecile who had been half poised to leap over the back of the pickup to sit next to the container. Her left hand was touching it, she could feel its solid smoothness under her fingers, feel the mechanism that opened the doors at the top that she had closed for what she had foolishly thought would be the last time. There was no convincing Jamie, his hubris had consumed him completely. Perhaps it had been happening the entire time she had known him, or perhaps Jamie had been born that way? She would never know, never understand why he couldn’t see what was so clearly in front of him. He could see the pain he caused, but not the damage.

“Now,” he crossed his arms over his chest as the security guard with the dart gun moved into position behind him. “The police have been called in so you have two choices. Number one; you both come with me, the mer are returned to their tanks and nobody need get hurt. Number two; you both die trying to save something that cannot possibly be saved.”

Cecile undid the latch of the container doors, shaking her head as she made a last ditch effort to distract Jamie. “You’re not going to shoot me.”

“And why not? You disabled the cameras, remember?” He grinned. “Anything could happen.”

“Yes,” Cecile replied. “It could.”

Darren barrelled from the cab, flinging himself to the ground as the _bang_ of the handgun being fired sailed through the glass windows of the Hilux and shattered them. The bullet hit the concrete of the wall on the other side and stayed there before Cecile pushed off the side of the vehicle and flung herself at the shooter, the heavy duty torch at her waist now in her hand that slammed into the man’s face with a satisfying _crack._ She’d shattered his nose, that much was obvious as the spray of blood and pieces of bone that marred the concrete of the floor were anything to go by. He was lifeless underneath her as he hit the floor, but Cecile went to strike at him again when a hand twisted in her hair and yanked her away. The handgun had been dropped, sent flying across the ground and out of sight as Jamie moved his arm around her throat and squeezed her in a chokehold. She dropped the torch, heard it clatter somewhere as her lungs quickly began to burn. Cecile bent her knees a little, using any leverage she could get as she pushed off the ground and forced Jamie to stagger backwards until his back hit the side of the cab.

She caught Darren from the corner of her eye in the relative darkness, narrowly missing both a bullet and a dart gun were definitely on his list of things to never repeat but he was bigger than the man he grappled with, naturally stronger than Cecile who was so desperately trying to claw at Jamie’s face.

Suddenly he yelped in pain, his arm relinquishing his hold as something, _someone,_ pulled him up with a hand around his neck. Cecile half fell to her knees before she caught herself, twisting around as quickly as she could while the world stopped spinning and her breath returned. She had expected Tytus to have grabbed Jamie, but was surprised to see Elio lifting him from the ground. She had never seen him look so furious, eyes glinting menacingly as he manhandled Jamie around better in his grasp to hold him up by the lapels of his coat so he could face him. Right in this moment, despite all his years of captivity, he had never looked so dangerous, so wild.

“You have lost.” He hushed, voice so calm despite the rage in his eyes. A hiss broke the air as Tytus rose from the water of the container, his fist bunched around something pointed and Cecile had a split second to register what they were before they were stabbed into Jamie’s chest. He screamed and flailed but Elio held him steady. Cecile got to her feet as Elio dropped Jamie to the ground; the four venomous spines from the dorsal of Tytus were embedded in him.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here.” Darren’s breathless declaration sounded in the tunnel as he pulled himself back into the driver’s seat while Cecile clambered up and over the side of the cab, her back to the rear window. The truck started up and made its way up the service ramp and out into the open, the rain having lessened.

Elio was breathing harshly, appeared to be in mild shock as he sank back down into the water of the container, leaning against Tytus who embraced him from behind.

“I don’t know what came over me, I was just…” he trailed off, shaking his head.

“Don’t try and explain, Elio, it’s alright.” Cecile reassured him as she got closer to touch his shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” he nodded and laughed a little bewilderedly, looking behind him and raising his fluke a little to reveal the hatchlings underneath in the sling, somehow managing to sleep through all of that which made Cecile laugh out loud.

Darren pulled onto the main road and headed east, the scenery whizzing past them as he drove as fast but as sensibly as he could. Dawn was on the horizon, the brightness of the sun’s early rays chasing away the clouds and changing the sky from the bleak grey to a pastel blue. As the road turned into the Mauna Loa Highway, onto Route 460, the sun had risen. Elio and Tytus had laid back down, their adrenaline and fury having long left them.

“We’re almost there!” Darren yelled through the gap in the rear window and Elio nodded, pushing his face into the crook of Tytus’ neck. Cecile smiled at them, eternally glad that they had formed such a bond despite everything that they had faced and the way they had been introduced. They were headed to a little break area in the shadow of the trees. The highways of Moloka’i were nothing like the ones that spread themselves across the mainland of the US with their enormity. They were dusty, lined with ferns and rocks as Route 460 ran across the southeast of the island, ending a couple of hours further east when the forest became too thick and the terrain too mountainous. Oddly, there were five churches that lined the road on one side where they were now, the spread of a desolate beach on the other lined with towering palm trees. Darren made a beeline for a gap off the road, the trucks thick tyres and springy suspension absorbing the worst of the bumps. 

He eased the truck in a semi-circle before throwing it into reverse, the water of the South Pacific breaking upon impact as the rear of the cab was submerged. Cecile sprang into action, jumping over the side and landing in thigh deep water. Darren joined her and together, they released the back of the cab and slid the container into the water with them.

Elio sat up, head pounding a little from the tiredness he felt in his bones, from the strange sense of tightness he had felt in his core since the sun had gone down that night, knowing that today was the day. He watched Tytus lower himself into the water first, carefully cradling the hatchlings to him as he put on the sling and secured it around himself. Elio smiled at him, he was so in love with this alpha and had no idea how he had gone about his days before he had met him. Elio’s daze was broken when he looked up and for the first time in his life, saw the ocean laid out before him.

It was enormous, an expanse of blue that stretched into the horizon and glittered with the rising of the sun. Elio felt his jaw drop a little, felt his eyes widen as he paused halfway between the container and submerging himself in the water. He heard a small laugh, a tug at his tailfin and he looked down to see Tytus smirking at him.

“There’s a lot more of it,” he said. “So much more.”

“More?” Elio questioned, feeling daunted by the idea. “How can there be more when you can’t see the end?”

“I’ll show you.” Tytus offered out his hand and Elio took it, sliding down into the water. It was colder than he expected, but it felt _right._ Surely this was a dream? Surely he will wake up any minute now and be back in the cave in the tank?

Darren backed out of the water, leaving Cecile to stand in the water by herself and when Elio turned to her, she dropped to her knees at his level, the gentle waves lapping at their sides. This early in the morning, there was nobody around, the beach empty even at the peak of the day with the small population and even the skies free of birds for at least another hour.

It was then he realised, that this would be the last time he would ever see Cecile, the last time she would ever see Elio.

“Cecile, I…” he paused, the lump in his throat making it tight. “I don’t know how to thank you.”

“You don’t need to, _mon cœur,_ you don’t need to.” She cried silently, no sobs escaping as she regarded Elio with a fond look. “I’m so proud of everything you’ve done and the person you’ve become. So, _so_ proud, I’m not sure I can even put it into words.” 

Elio released a small sound at the back of his throat, watched as Cecile drew in a deep steady breath but it came out as a shudder. “You’re my mother,” he whispered, “You’re the only one who saw something in me right from the beginning, the only one who cared.” The realisation that he would never see Cecile again left him reeling. She had raised him, put absolutely everything she had in her into him in the hopes of giving him a life as normal as she possibly could in the circumstances. Now, she had risked all that she had built for herself in order to help him and Elio felt he could barely get the words out to express his gratitude. Hot tears were on his cheeks, their salt mingling with that of the ocean that had splashed onto his face. The waves were calm, Cecile looked calm but inside, Elio was a raging storm. He felt torn, more so than he ever had in his life. The thought of swimming off into the sunset had only been a dream just yesterday, was now suddenly very real and there was no turning back. Despite it all, Elio was afraid.

Cecile saw it. The knelt position she was in must have been uncomfortable on her joints but she held it, caressed the sides of Elio’s face with her hands. Without thinking about it, Elio pulled a somewhat loose scale free from his hip. They were a little wider there before narrowing in width as they neared the base. About the size of his thumbnails, Elio held up the iridescent scale and pushed it into one of Cecile’s palms, closing her fingers over it.

“It’s nothing in comparison to what you’ve done for me, but it’s something.” Elio managed to smile as Cecile took it, breathing out through her nose as she came close enough to rest her forehead against his.

“The ocean is your home. We took it from you, kept it from you. The least I can do now is give it back.” Cecile drew in another ragged breath as bittersweet sorrow threatened to claim her. She looked up, a small smile creeping onto her face as she saw Tytus floating a little way ahead, the sling over his shoulder that held the hatchlings only just visible above the surface. “Go,” she whispered. “Go and be with your family.”

Elio released a breath as Cecile pressed a kiss to his forehead. This was it, the ocean he had been dreaming of since he was a child was now surrounding him, calling him home. He could feel it at the back of his mind, like hearing his name called and carried on the wind, once so faint but now so strong. Tytus smiled at Cecile, a genuine smile that he had never given her before that reached his eyes and said something that he wasn’t able to put into words. It made Elio’s heart clench when Cecile smiled back.

She stood, backing out of the water with her arms crossed over her chest, hands tucked into her armpits and Elio pushed himself backwards, deeper into the water. He turned around to take in the ocean once more and was met with Tytus’ beautiful face. He drew close to Elio, drawing him into a deep kiss that made him blush. When they parted, Elio looked down to run a hand over Neri and Kaius’ heads, their babies now awake and looking perfectly content within the very real touch of the ocean.

“It’s time to go home.” Tytus whispered, his forehead pushed against Elio’s. This still didn’t feel real, still felt like a fever dream as he blinked away the tears. He was happy, he really was, but it was bittersweet. The feeling in his gut mirroring that of Cecile’s as she stood on the beach and wept for him, for them all.

“Show me the way?” He breathed out on a laugh.

Tytus grinned. “Always.” With that said, he turned and ducked beneath the water and as he always had done since they met, Elio followed him.

Darren came to stand next to Cecile, her eyes unable to move from the horizon as she watched, for the final time, fins of silver and gold rise in and out of the surf over and over, getting further and further away until finally, they disappeared into the blue of the South Pacific.

She tucked her chin to her chest, squeezed her eyes shut so tightly that it made her head hurt. They had done it. Weeks of planning had led to this moment and Cecile had known it would be difficult, had understood that when she set Elio free, she would never see him again. But he was safe, far safer in the depths of the ocean than he was locked away in a tank. He was with his mate, their children, and Tytus knew where to go. He knew these waters, of that fact she had no doubt.

But none of that stopped how much her heart ached, how much her throat felt like a vice was held around it that might never let go. A hand came to steady her back as she swayed on her feet and when she looked up and opened her eyes, she saw Darren smiling at her.

She wasn’t alone either.

“Let’s go,” he said, his hand rubbing her shoulder. “We still have a lot of work to do.” He smiled at her as he made his way back to the cab. That’s right, they did have work to do to make sure nothing like this ever happened again. Cecile smiled to herself, raised her face to the shining early warmth of the sun and breathed out. It was likely she would always be melancholy for the rest of her days, but her head felt clearer than it had for months.

“I better get started.” Whispering to herself, she turned from the ocean and got back in the truck with Elio’s scale clutched tightly in her hand.

As the sun rose higher, the waters of the South Pacific came alive mer-song. It would reach deep into the hearts of those who heard it with its power, its tone a mix of opposing forces; elation and sorrow, euphoria and woe. Its pitch reflected many things that contrasted and wrapped around each other but underneath it all, it sang of unbridled joy, of the overwhelming feeling of which only one thing could be the cause;

Freedom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I totally wove the Atlantis myth into the origins of merfolk in this, but it just made so much sense when I was thinking about it for this narrative. I've just done a lot of Greek literature in my life and Plato is pretty much the king :D
> 
> The place I used for the release of Elio and Tytus: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@21.0952778,-157.0361112,3a,75y,203.89h,78.51t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipONDGcDQH6783s1n82V__CA3dbIa0rBnoGm1t4f!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipONDGcDQH6783s1n82V__CA3dbIa0rBnoGm1t4f%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.8061323-ya95.72499-ro-0.92478776-fo100!7i5376!8i2688?hl=en  
> There really are FIVE churches on one little piece of road!
> 
> If you would like extra emotional feelings, I highly recommend you listen to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ7pyiHg2BY - as Cecile and Darren drive away from the facility until the end of the story. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed! I had a lot of fun writing this and I hope it came across that way. Thank you again to Kaye and her story for being the inspiration, the links to which you can find on Chapter 1. See you all next time <3
> 
> \- HWR


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